


Meeting Upon Second Chances

by MrsDanielRae2019



Category: Actor RPF, American (US) Actor RPF, Real Person Fiction
Genre: Alternate Universe - Real World, F/M, Major Original Character(s), Original Character(s), Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Original Fiction, POV Original Female Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-13
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-05-06 06:15:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 37,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14635785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrsDanielRae2019/pseuds/MrsDanielRae2019
Summary: Victoria Marie Carey's life was a complicated story all of itself. Having to deal day in and day out with a spiteful, controlling ex-boyfriend/roommate, she has very little joy or comfort to speak of. The only thing that gives her any real joy is the discovery of a certain movie star from Old Hollywood days, a discovery that borders just this side of obsession. It's only a fantasy, she knows.However, her life becomes dramatically changed by the advent of a certain man into her life; a man that she never thought she would ever meet, not even in her wildest of dreams...





	1. A Fantasy Made Reality

**Author's Note:**

> So here I am! My very first fic here on AO3! This is an original story featuring a male protagonist based on the actor William Powell. He was the bee's knees back in the 20's - 50's. 
> 
> Obviously, I don't own the actual actor, nor anything to do with any of his films. I only own this story. I would love it if you leave me a review, however. 'Though, I must ask you to please, play nice! 
> 
> Otherwise, enjoy!
> 
> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victoria Marie Carey's life was a complicated story all of itself. Having to deal day in and day out with a spiteful, controlling ex-boyfriend/roommate, she has very little joy or comfort to speak of. The only thing that gives her any real joy is the discovery of a certain movie star from Old Hollywood days, a discovery that borders just this side of obsession. It's only a fantasy, she knows.
> 
> However, her life becomes dramatically changed by the advent of a certain man into her life; a man that she never thought she would ever meet, not even in her wildest of dreams...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here I am! My very first fic here on AO3! This is an original story featuring a male protagonist based on the actor William Powell. He was the bee's knees back in the 20's - 50's. 
> 
> Obviously, I don't own the actual actor, nor anything to do with any of his films. I only own this story. I would love it if you leave me a review, however. 'Though, I must ask you to please, play nice! 
> 
> Otherwise, enjoy!

A Fantasy Made Reality

 

Victoria Marie Carey found herself drifting off into yet _another_ daydream of one William Horatio Powell, Star of the Silver Screen, of the Old Time Radio Shows of the 1930’s and ‘40’s, and, current obsession.  Checking her phone again under the pretext of seeing if she had possibly missed any emails or texts, Marie sighed at the photo of said heart throb that served as the background wallpaper that currently graced said phone.  She really just could not get enough of looking at him.   

 “Yep,” she said to herself, “classic case of an undeniable, First Class Obsession…”

Now, said obsession had started out innocently enough.  Victoria had been watching the Tenth Anniversary Edition of “You’ve Got Mail” with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks.  As she had watched the interview they had done for the anniversary, along with the director, Nora Ephron, they had spoken of how they had based their movie on “The Shop Around The Corner”, which had starred Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart.  This had led into some background to do with how _that_ movie was reminiscent of other movies of that era, having to do with the ‘love – hate’ relationships of the lead male and female characters.  They had given then, as an example, the movie, “My Man Godfrey” which had starred Carol Lombard and, guess who? One William Powell. 

The clip, although brief, had had the effect of pouring gasoline onto an already blazing fire; one which Victoria had not, at the time, even known to exist.  She immediately began to search for the movie, scouring the interwebbernet like someone lost in the desert without water, desperate to find an oasis, only the oasis for her was finding that movie. Somehow or other – she couldn’t really remember why or how she came to it – she had ended up searching through Yahoo Movies (which had taken up all of Hulu’s free-to-watch movies once they had gone to pay-only services).  Her efforts were rewarded mere moments after starting said search, for there was the movie!

She fondly remembered watching it for the very first time; of how captivated she was, of how she had been left feeling just a little bit lost after, for there had been something primal, something raw, yet, oddly, refined about the feelings he had stirred up in her.  She knew definitively that he was somehow the answer to a question she had been trying to answer; a question she had come so close to answering so many, many times, yet ended up discovering the answer she thought was the right one was not, in fact, at all. The resulting heart ache and heart break never put her down for long.  No, she was a fighter, an undying believer in love with a capital ‘L’.  For her, it was the one thing worth fighting for, even dying for, if it came down to it.  She simply would not rest until she found someone that felt and believed as she did about that. 

She knew he existed, that he had to.  It was completely unthinkable to her that Fate could be so cruel as to make her be the only one anywhere ever that did, indeed, share that ideology. Years of searching for that ‘One’ were met and filled with one failed relationship after another.  Though, as she looked back, she realized they weren’t failures, for she _had_ learned from each one; learned what she _really_ wanted, learned to hold out for that, no matter what anyone said.  She had learned to honor _her_ thoughts, wants, and needs; to not give into the momentary desperation she felt sometimes when said love didn’t appear when she wanted it to.  She had also learned to not give in to a man’s advances just because he was paying attention to her.  She learned to no longer sell herself short. If she had learned nothing else in all her forty years on this earth, it was that she would never give up on that most heartfelt dream.

From the day she first watched that movie on, the obsession grew steadily, exponentially with each passing day, with each movie of his she was able to find, either to download, or, when she could afford it, purchase a copy of.  She began to collect photo after photo of him, either with one of his costars posing for promotional photos, or, even better, of him by himself.  It had only been three months after discovering him, and to date she had roughly half of his movies, over two hundred photos of him, as well as a small collection of gifs and fan made videos.

Victoria was very well aware that he was an obsession.  However, in the grand scheme of everything, there were far worse things she could be obsessive over.  Being obsessive-compulsive, she knew only too well how easy it was to go overboard with her interest in something.  And really, there wasn’t any longer anything in her life that she was that way with.  And so with all of this in mind, she decided that said obsession was perfectly acceptable.

It had also been a daily part, if not in fact a _several_ times daily part of her life to check in with the Facebook group she had found of William Powell and Myrna Loy.  Myrna was a definite favorite as well.  She simply adored the onscreen chemistry they had had together.  Their “Thin Man” movies were amongst some of her most cherished to watch. It was also just so nice to have a group of people that shared her obsession of William; of whom understood how much he meant to her.  With whom she could share what tid bits of information she had learned of him, of his life and such; from whom she could learn such as well.

It made her feel good, and filled something within her that she hadn’t really ever found enough of before:  a sense of belonging.  The people there were nice people.  There was no arguing, nor of anyone trying to roughly nor rudely be bossy nor controlling.  Just a collection of people that shared a similar love and admiration of a man that had brought so much joy and happiness to so many, and lovely part of it, was still doing so after so many years.

 ~*~

 One day, whilst on Facebook, it struck her to see if there might be a page that was dedicated solely to William.  After rifling through a couple that were ‘information only’ types, she did end up managing to find one presenting itself as of the actor himself. “Holy smokes!” Victoria thought out loud.  She knew of course it wasn’t _actually_ him.  “Especially considering his post-living status.”  Still, the idea of someone having made the page as ‘him’ thrilled her.  It excited her in a fan girl way, making her want to at least pretend it really was him, ‘deceased’ status notwithstanding. So she sent ‘him’ a ‘Friend Request’, and thought, ‘What the hell? The worst that can happen is that whoever is running it will just not accept it.  And at best, they will! Then I can say I’m a ‘Friend’ of William Powell!’

After about a month of still no ‘Accept’ notification, Victoria began to think that perhaps the page was simply no longer being monitored by whomever had created it.  She really didn’t want to believe that said person wouldn’t accept her request.  It was just too, too close to ‘him’ not accepting it, of rejecting her.  And that just wasn’t something she would ever allow herself to consider. Another month came and went, still with no ‘Accept’ notification.  Though at that point, it wasn’t something she was terribly broken up over.  Oh, she’d still check the page from time to time, just to see if anything had changed.  When she saw that it hadn’t, she’d move on, contenting herself with her mutual fans at the ‘William & Myrna’ fan group.  So when the notification _did_ finally show up, she nearly burst with nervous excitement.

“OhmygodohmygodohmyGOD!” she yelped.  Thankfully her ex wasn’t home, or there would have been the very unpleasant interruption of him wanting to know what was wrong.  She would have to give him some lame story, not wanting to tell him the truth as she didn’t want him ruining the moment for her with some snide remark.  And she really wasn’t in the mood to deal with all of that. Being the polite person she had been raised to be, she immediately went to ‘his’ page to write a ‘Thank You for Accepting <3’ on ‘his’ wall, then proceeded to go to hers and tell the whole of her sixty some ‘Friends’ of the huge import of what had just happened, of what it all meant to her.

A good deal more than she had thought would notice, did.  They were naturally very happy for her.  The couple of people from the ‘William & Myrna’ group that she had ‘Friended’ were moon over for her, adding to her happiness greatly. Still riding on the cloud of ecstasy that comes with a fond wish being granted, the next day brought even more delightful news.  For when she logged onto Facebook, she saw there was a message waiting for her.  She didn’t think anything of it really, at least not at first; it could most likely be anyone that she was ‘Friends’ with.

“Dear.Gods,” she said as an unpleasant thought crossed her mind.  “Please don’t let it be yet _another_ idiot from some South African state that can’t even construct a half way decent sentence, trying to chat me up.” Huffing her breath in annoyance, she clicked onto the ‘Messages’ icon at the top of her page, waiting with hope it would at worst be something nondescript.  However, when she saw ‘William Horatio Powell’ show up, she actually stopped breathing for what seemed an infinite moment.  Quickly collecting herself, and her courage, she clicked onto the message, opening the dialog box to his message:

“Victoria! Greetings to you, Dear Lady! Thank You so much for requesting we be Friends here. I must ask you to forgive me in taking so long to answer it, as I’ve not been on here for some time.  I actually only came on here a couple of days ago out of boredom, as there hadn’t been any significant activity on the page in a long while, and so had just left it alone; then consequently forgot about it completely.

“So, imagine my surprise at finding your kind request! I took a brief look at your page, and decided I should be most happy to make your acquaintance. 

“Looking very much forward to future conversations…

“William H. Powell”

Victoria read, then re-read the message at least a half dozen times, trying desperately to process what was in front of her.  After having decided to not let herself think any longer about it, there it was:  that wonderful message, from someone equally wonderful.  No mere “Hey, Thanks!” No siree.   Here was a full on, well written, well thought out message, apologizing for taking so long to get to her, asking her to forgive that offense, saying they were looking forward to potential future interchange. “Holy FUCK!” was all she could initially manage, the weight of the importance of what was in her message box descending on her like a ton of bricks.  Collecting herself, she decided “What the hey?” and proceeded to type out an equally nice response. 

“William!” she began, deciding the familiar use of ‘his’ name would be alright, considering ‘he’ had done so with hers.  “Thank You so very much for taking the time to write to me, to thank me.  Not many people have the good manners to do such anymore.  So it’s very appreciated.

“I completely understand not accepting sooner, due to you not being on here.  I rather figured that was the case, and so, wasn’t offended in the least.  Though I will say, I feel it’s a shame that you do not get so much activity on your page; however, I can understand it.  William Powell is a huge deal to some of us, and no matter how much those some of us like to think so, he isn’t as wildly popular as he was in his day.

“That being said… I am one of those happy few that know of him; of how delightful a person he seemed to be, and of how talented and just plain _nice_ he was.  I’m very glad to see that you have a page for him from the point of view of it being actually him.

“Yours, Victoria~”

She closed the window, knowing that if she didn’t right then and there, she would sit there, staring at it, trying to will ‘him’ to respond as she waited.  Victoria firmly decided she simply wasn’t going to be like that.  Realistically, the person who created the page _wasn’t_ , in point of fact, ‘him’, no matter how much she would have liked to pretend.  “For that matter,” she told herself, “I don’t even know for certain the person running it is even a ‘he’! For all I know, it _could be_ a ‘she’!” Victoria decided that it did not matter even one wit as to the gender of the author of ‘his’ page.  They could string together a well-constructed sentence, they were polite, even kind, and most importantly, seemed to share a great fondness of William.  And for her, those were the things that mattered most.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there we go! Chapter One is down! I'll mention here that this story is fully written, so there won't be any of that nonsense of starting a good story, promising that I'll finish it, that I won't let my readers down, only to not follow through.
> 
> Did I mention I LOVE Reviews..? ;)


	2. Hesitation & Confirmation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A budding friendship a lovely thing, most especially when it is with a heart's desire made real. But when fear comes to call, as it inevitably does, Victoria chokes, leaving William wondering what happened. Fortunately, he makes a move, and fear is conquered, at least for the time being...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Greetings to You All!
> 
> Here is the second chapter! This is going to be a bit of a 'slow burn' romance. I know the 'M' rating may scare off some; however, the only reason I rated it that is there will be later in this story a scene involving a forced kiss. I'll be certain to put a 'trigger' warning at the start of that chapter!
> 
> Otherwise, enjoy!

Hesitation & Confirmation

 

Having set herself in the thought that she was now in the friendship of yet another person that was as fond of William Powell as was she – along with those she interacted with in the ‘William & Myrna’ group – she found that she really wasn’t all that obsessive about needing, nor even wanting to receive undue attention from said new friend. “Oh sure,” Victoria confessed to herself, “It’d be wonderful if said ‘friend’ were to turn out to be some totally gorgeous man that ended up being not only interested in me, but actually free to be such.”

Huffing again, she logged onto Facebook, doing her best to convince herself she wasn’t hoping for anything more from her new ‘friend’. It was at best a failure, for when she saw there were indeed no new messages, she harrumphed, more than a bit deflated. “All right then you,” she chided herself.  “Move along.  They either answer, or they don’t.  They do have a life, after all, and aren’t obligated to do anything as related to you.  Take what you have been given, and be grateful for that.  Just be their friend, okay?”

Scrolling through her ‘Notifications’, she clicked on various ones from her other friends, checking to see what her sisters were up to; reading the latest installment of her favorite comic strip, then on to the ‘William & Myrna’ group page. Victoria was in the middle of drooling over yet another schmexy photo of ‘The Man’ as she had come to lovingly, jokingly refer to William, preparing to make a comment on it, when there was a Message notification chime alerting her that someone had just sent her a missive.

“Poo! Oh, heck, you can wait a minute, whoever you are!” deciding to finish her comment first. “Just let me finish this real fast, then I’ll get to you.” Her comment on the post finished with a satisfied ‘hmmph!’, she clicked on the Message icon. ‘William Horatio Powell’ was met with an, “Ooo!” quickly followed by the opening of said message, done so with great anticipation.

“Victoria! What a pleasure to find your return message here. Again I find I must apologize to you.  I have so gotten into the habit of ignoring this page that I did not think to check back to see if you had actually responded.   That, and like you, I am unused to people having the good manners to do such.  So again, I do hope you shall forgive me for that breach.

“I agree wholeheartedly with you on the point of there not being enough of us that are still his fans. Though, I’m afraid I have a bit of an unfair advantage, for you see, both of my parents were.  So much so in fact that they named me after him.  I grew up with story after story of how he did this or that, or was such and such on this or that movie.  Because of it, their love of him became mine.  I even have had several people comment on how much they think I resemble him, although I myself see only a passing similarity.  Or perhaps I simply do not wish to see more?

“Either way, like you, I do truly admire him.

“Yours, William...”

Victoria sat there, staring at the screen unblinking. Then began blinking furiously, rubbing her eyes several times in succession, unable to process the words she had just read.  “Just how on earth could this be?” she said, completely disbelieving.  Not only did he claim his name was actually William, he was also claiming he looked like him as well.  The idea that one of the two could possibly be true was one thing.  “But for both of them?” She simply could not wrap her head around it. Not that she didn’t want to.

For she absolutely did. She wanted the fantasy.  All of it, every single bit.  She wanted for him to not only be named ‘William’; she wanted him to absolutely look like him, act like him, to sound like him.  She wanted this man to be just as goofy, and sweet, and shy but confident just like the original William was.  She wanted it more than just about anything she had wanted in a very long while. And that was exactly why she couldn’t allow herself to want all of that.

No, wanting something like that, even hoping for something like that, was a very slippery slope, and well she knew it. Victoria knew that if she let herself, her world-class obsession would get the better of her, transferring it from the actual William Powell to someone whom claimed to be, basically, the equivalent of a ‘one off’.  She knew if she let herself, she would end up falling for someone that, most likely would take full advantage of her, ending with them using her for the satisfaction of their own ego.

And yet, she wanted to believe. She wanted to at least give the man the benefit of the doubt.

She wanted to believe that he wouldn’t do that, wouldn’t use her for some self-satisfying, ego-boosting game. That he really was genuinely as nice as he presented himself. It was a balancing act at best, and she knew it.  To on the one hand be enough of a believer to not be so rude as to assume he was attempting to play her, and on the other hand, to be enough of a sceptic so as to not let that happen.  Victoria knew all too well how this could play out if she didn’t walk that line, and walk it very carefully.  She also knew that there was no way in Hell nor in Heaven that she wasn’t going to at least try.

~*~

Everything from the past few days weighed heavy on Victoria. On the one hand, there was the new and wonderful thought of there being every possibility she had just – at least potentially – been handed a dream come true.  In only just the first couple of messages with him, everything she had hoped for seemed to be poised on the very edge of becoming real.  Even now the feeling left her more than only a bit reeling. However, on the other hand – that benighted, bastard ‘other’ – she was also faced with an equally real possibility that what was initially a seeming miracle could, in point of fact, end up being a big, fat disappointment.

“Blah..!” she sputtered. For nearly the past hour, Victoria had been sat staring at the last message ‘William’ had sent her.  And despite her initial determination to walk the tightrope of ‘yea or nay’, had ended up not messaging him back.  Day Three was looming before her; a great, big, empty, sprawling uncertainty lying between he and she.  One wherein she found she suddenly had absolutely no idea of how she was going to even begin to broach.

Day Four arrived seeing Victoria no closer to making anything even resembling a decision, unless you counted not making one as actually also being one. And ‘William’ having not messaged her again did little to sooth her conscious, nor to calm the raging storm that was her mood over the glaringly obvious – at least to her – evidence that his  attention was not only not sincere, but also not as grand as she had thought.

She became, as consequence, convinced this was irrefutable proof that he either wasn’t really as interested as he had seemed; or he was just an out and out liar. The culmination of which was the growing feeling of a deep, depressive funk. The fact that good manners dictated the onus of next communication was to fall upon her was an unwanted and unwelcome fact.

Now, from ‘William’s’ view, he also was wondering what had happened to Victoria. For you see, her advent into his life had for a moment, at least, seemed like a breath of fresh, Spring air.  The only reason he had even gone on to check ‘his’ Facebook wall was exactly as he had said to her, out of sheer boredom.  So when he saw her Friend Request, his first reaction was as he also said to her, to feel a bit badly that he had not come back to check on said page sooner.

Then when he came back online again to find her reply to his, he found he was actually quite thrilled. Everything he had seen on her wall simply delighted him.  He found her liberal use of colorful metaphors refreshing; and to say he was beyond impressed by her masterful grasp of grammar and spelling was something that was very attractive as well, was to say the least.  The fact that she was also funny and beautiful, along with all of that, made him realize he might have just had the pleasure of meeting his match.

So needless to say, when he checked his messages the day after his last one to her, he was a bit confused at first, for he had sincerely hoped she would have replied. He decided that, just as she had initially done, she was probably busy, that she would get back to him as soon as she was free to. But then with the arrival of Day Three, bringing with it no new missives, he began to question the true depths of her seeming interest, much as she also had his. There was also the thought on his part that he did not wish to overpower her with his attentions.  Oh, he had wanted very much to write to her again, not wanting to wait for her to reply back first.

He wanted to write to her, to try to find out what might be wrong, to uncover what might have been an unseen, unintentional faux pas on his part. And if so, to at least attempt to make it right.  Unfortunately, that could not very well happen, at least not until they were in communication again. When Day Four arrived, still with nothing forthcoming from the beautiful Victoria, he found himself begin to worry.  Had he missed something? Something vital, yet hidden, within her last message to him? Had he indeed been guilty of overestimating her enthusiasm? “Well William,” he decided finally, “there is only one way to find out...”

“My Dearest Victoria…

“I do hope this finds you well. As it has been some few days since last we spoke, I thought to go ahead, to write to you, to see how you were. I hope I am not bothering you over much; you are always welcome to tell me if I am.

“Perhaps, Fair Lady, you will grace me with the possibility of a ‘live’ chat here, if you would like of course? If so, let me know when you might be free to do so?

“Until then, I remain, Your William.”

Victoria had only just stepped onto Facebook, when her Message notification icon popped up, alerting her to a new message. Needless to say, the nerves in her stomach were wreaking havoc with it; the hope that it was from William, the fear that it wasn’t, weighing equally heavy in said nervous stomach. Clicking on the Message icon, relief flooded through her like a crashing wave at seeing it was in fact from William.

A nanosecond later found her angsty anew, fear crashing as another wave at the thought that he might have written only to tell her that he was saying ‘good bye’, dashing all her hopes for her miracle with a few typed words. She quickly scanned his message, incredulous to find that he too had suffered from the same malediction of having been afraid of saying too much too soon; of being too much too soon. The green radio button next to his name indicated that he was possibly still there, that perhaps he was waiting to see if she might come on, might read his message.

VMC: William! Are you still here?

WHP: Yes! I am!

WHP: Have you had a chance to read my message to you?

VMC: Yes, I only just now did.

WHP: I… I wanted to write to you sooner.  However, I didn’t want to overwhelm you.

VMC: Oh William… please don’t apologize.  You’ve done nothing wrong, really.  I just…

WHP: What? Darling Victoria, you can tell me anything, really… I promise you, I won’t be offended in the slightest.

VMC: No, William… it isn’t like that.  You haven’t done anything but be perfectly wonderful.  I’m just… well, I guess I just found it more than a little incredible that your name is actually ‘William’.  I guess that scared me a little.  And that you say people have told you that you look like him too… it was a bit overwhelming, is all.

VMC: I mean, do you have any idea how that might make me feel? What it might do to my insides to know that was true? Especially when you know what ‘he’ means to me?

WHP: Yes, I do know.  That’s why I waited until today to write to you again.  Because I know.

VMC: When you wrote that to me, told me that… I guess I freaked out just a bit.  I wanted to write back to you, I really did.  But I froze, you know? And then each day after that, I couldn’t bring myself to un-freeze.

VMC: You must think me awful…

WHP: No, not at all.  In fact, I think quite the opposite of you.

VMC: Wait… you do?

WHP: Yes, I do.  Victoria, before I decided to ‘Friend’ you, I went to your page, to find out about you.

VMC: You did?

WHP: Yes, I did.  I wanted to see what sort of person you are.  You’d not believe how many crazed, truly fanatical fans of his there are.  I guess I’m much like he was, in a way.  I’d  rather have only a few really good friends than a hundred hangers’ on.

VMC: I know what you mean.  I’m the same way, being rather on the picky side myself.  I always check out someone’s page before I make a decision as to accept or not.  I’m not here to be popular.  I want to make real connections with people.                 

WHP: Exactly.

WHP: And that’s why I accepted yours… I felt there was something very worth my time and effort, something that would be worth investing in a friendship with you.

VMC: Well, then I’m flattered.

VMC: So, am I forgiven? For making you wait so long?

WHP: Ha..! Yes, absolutely.

VMC: Good, I’m glad.  And, Thank You…

WHP: You are most Welcome, Lovely Lady. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, then, there we are! Not 'high drama' perhaps, but then, this *is* only chapter two...
> 
> And our dear heroine Victoria! Bless! Yearning for a dream, thinking it would never possibly ever come true, only to be seemingly handed it! No, wonder she froze, no?
> 
> I do hope you liked this chapter also. There won't be a lot of sex or erotica in this adventure for our two Love Birds, alas... I didn't want to make it about that. I wanted it to be about two people coming together ; about two hearts and minds being about to overcome some things that have the potential to keep them apart. 
> 
> If you like this thus far, please do leave me a review!


	3. Revelations, Misunderstandings, & Ultimatums

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> William and Victoria have a lovely chat, and all seems to be progressing quite nicely. Unfortunately, doubt leads to hesitation (on William's part), which leads to misunderstanding and a resulting ultimatum (on Victoria's part). Affairs of the Heart can be lovely, but also very confusing, especially when fantasy is seen as reality, however unintended the view is misconstrued...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know the drill..! I don't own William Powell, nor anything to do with any of his movies. My OC's I do! 
> 
> Other than that, read on!

Revelations, Misunderstandings, & Ultimatums

 

The next morning came far too early for Victoria’s liking, especially after the lengthy chat she and William had had the night before.  It ended up going on for well over several hours, the arrival of midnight convincing her they really did need to say ‘good night’. And so it was reluctantly done, very much so on both their parts.  They found they both had many shared interests, as well as some rather uncanny similarities as far as their lives growing up, where they had lived, as well as things to do with previous relationships.

William had, it turned out, been born in Kansas City, Missouri.  Then whilst in high school had caught the acting bug, deciding to attend the University of Missouri-Kansas City Theatre College of Arts and Sciences.  After graduating there, he then moved to New York to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.  However, the untimely death of his father brought him swiftly back to Kansas City.  After the estate had been settled, he decided to study to become an Architect so that he might take over his father’s firm.  

Victoria had thought it more than amazing that they had both been born so close to each other, geophysically speaking, she having been born in Wichita, Kansas. They both had relation in Oklahoma, as well as with he having such in Wichita; she having such just outside Neosho, Missouri.  It was also interesting to discover that they had both been married three times, with several additional ‘near misses’; he, having two grown daughters and she, two grown sons. She was all too long done with dealing with children, and finding someone that was at that same place had been annoyingly frustrating. So upon learning that, not only was William in his early fifties, but that he too was done with raising a family, only sweetened the pot.

‘Uncanny’ was definitely the word they both felt most apropos. They discovered they both loved music, singing in particular, enjoying going out to Karaoke.  He played both piano and guitar – of which she was terribly envious – and made him promise that if they ever met, he would teach her both.  It was at that point that William decided he should, perhaps, divulge his current city of residence…

WHP:  Victoria…

VMC:  Yes?

WHP:  I think you should know… I don’t _actually_ live in Palm Springs…

VMC:  Oh..! Well, I kind of figured you didn’t…

VMC:  So, where _do_ you live?

WHP:  Well… I’m afraid you won’t believe me…

VMC:  William, after everything we’ve discovered thus far about each other, I think the issue of where you live isn’t exactly going to be that freaky.

WHP:  Okay then…

WHP:  I actually live up in Poway…

VMC:  Holy Hannah! Seriously?

WHP:  Indeed.

VMC:  Wow…

WHP:  I know.  It’s a bit to process…

WHP:  I know.  I had thought to wait a bit before I told you that.  I didn’t want to overwhelm you any more than I already had.

VMC:  I appreciate that. 

WHP:  It’s just that… when you joked about making me promise to teach you to play piano and guitar one day, well… it felt… wrong to not tell you.

VMC:  Well, I guess I can understand that.  I’m just not sure what to do with that now.

VMC:  I mean, after everything we told each other… what I mean to say is… I know we only just met, so to speak, but… well… Oh, fuck..!

WHP:  What Victoria? Seriously, you can say to me whatever you want to say to me… it’s alright.

VMC:  I don’t know William.  I mean, I want to… but I think maybe I shouldn’t, at least not yet.

Now, William had an inkling as to what Victoria was so ineptly trying _not_ to say.  He was fairly sure that she liked him, maybe even just a bit more than that, but was hesitant as she didn’t want to frighten him off.  Thing of it was, he felt the same about her, had in fact wanted to tell her much sooner, but knew there was no way he could without as likely frightening _her_ off, just as much as she was now afraid of doing to him.    

‘This is silly,’ he thought to himself.  ‘She wants to tell me she likes me, but doesn’t want to run me off. "Alright then, William Old Boy, what’re you gonna _do_ about it..?' It was more than a bit of a gamble, for there was every chance he was reading her totally wrong.  He also knew that, having been raised the way he had, most women wanted to be pursued, wanted to have the man make the first move, so to speak. 

One of the areas he had been _very_ successful in where it regarded romantic situations was when it was time to take the lead, both in dancing and in making the proverbial ‘first move’.  Not a single girl, nor woman – when he’d gotten older – had ever found it less than anything utterly charming, even sexy, that he was one of the last hold outs for Old World Gentlemanly behavior. “Was it always easy to do?” he reminisced.  “No, especially when it was _my_ heart on the line.” 

He had never let that stop him, having been vindicated in his judgment every time.  And this time, most especially _this_ time, he wasn’t about to doubt his instincts.  There was no way he was going to let Victoria slip through his fingers because he decided to hesitate. Taking a very deep breath, he began:

WHP:  Victoria, I’m going to say something, and I want you to know that you are completely under no obligation whatsoever to accept what I’m going to say next as being true, okay?

VMC:  Okay...

“Well, here goes nothing!” drawing in another, deeper breath, he continued.

WHP:  I like you.  In fact, I like you a lot.  Rather more than I probably should, especially considering the brevity of time in which we’ve known each other.         

He paused, wanting to give her a moment to process what he had just dumped into her lap, as well as to allow her a chance to say something to that. When she didn’t, he continued.

WHP:  I know that may be too much to process, especially after everything else you’ve been asked to.  And I realize there is every possibility that you feel nothing of the sort towards me.  And if that is so, I want you to know that I completely understand.

WHP:  If that is the case, all you have to do is say so, and I won’t bother you with it again, and you can decide if you still wish to remain friends, okay?

VMC:  Wow... you really feel this way about me?

WHP:  Yes, I do.

VMC:  May I ask how long you’ve felt like this? I mean, was it like, from the beginning? Or... well... I know it’s weird to say that, as we’ve only known each other for what? Like, five? Six days?

WHP:  Well, to be completely honest?

VMC:  Yes, completely honest...

WHP:  Then from the first day, when I went to your page, saw what you looked like, read some of your posts, began to come to know you, even if only a little.  I knew after that I was sunk.

VMC:  Oh, William...

WHP:  I know. 

WHP:  Then when you replied back to my first message to you... well, you were just so sweet, so completely open and honest.  I knew I was done.

WHP:  I know this is a lot, Victoria.  If you need some time to think about all of this, I do understand...

VMC:  I don’t.  I mean to say, I don’t need any time to process. 

WHP:  Ohhhh-kay? Forgive me, but I’m confused...

VMC:  I feel the same way, William! Silly..! <3

WHP:  You do?!

VMC:  Yes, Darling William, I do.

WHP:  Ugh! Woman! You’re gonna be the death of me..! :D

VMC:  Hmmm... only if you are very, *very* good...!

WHP:  Hmmmm... Methinks I may have my hands full here... ;)

“And what a wonderful time I’ll have of it, if indeed I am just that lucky!” William said to himself, smiling broadly, feeling his heart open up again, as if after a very, very long time dead.

~*~

The next couple of weeks saw them chatting on Facebook or texting most every day, save for the few times when he needed to force himself to stay off the damned thing so that he could actually get some work done.  Victoria was quickly becoming a major part of his day, and if he let it, would find a good chunk of it gone, either from chatting with her, of him thinking of her, or of both.  Not that either of those activities was a negative.  It was just that he had a business to oversee, and that wasn’t easily done with him being so distracted.

For her part, Victoria found it also far and away too, too easy to get caught up in their nearly daily chats.  Vast experience had taught her the value of not obsessing over not hearing from him every day.  She had always been someone for whom it was important to be in touch with her ‘person of interest’ at least every other day; it gave her a comfort, knowing that she was important to the other person, and she wanted to make sure said other person felt that they were as much the same for her.

This time though, she did want to be at least a bit more level headed.  She also wanted to make sure that William knew her thoughts and feelings on what was quickly becoming something of significance to the both of them.  She neither wanted to overwhelm him with her history, nor wanted to shy away from letting him know of her reasons for wanting regular communication.  However, she also wanted to honor what he felt comfortable with as well.  This was, after all, about the two of them; it was important that they both felt safe in acknowledging each other’s needs.

As it turned out, Victoria needn’t have worried that William was someone that liked to keep his object of affection at an arm’s length, for he didn’t.  No, he was very much like her, craving regular connection with her, even if it was only via chat on Facebook.  And for the moment, that was good enough for them both. All in all, they both thought that things were going on between them very nicely and smoothly. And so, naturally, it came time for a snag to come along and make things just a tad bumpy. Thus came the first time that not one, but two days came and went without word from William. 

At first, Victoria took it fairly well in stride, opting to choose to not let it be a big deal.  She absolutely wasn’t going to let it get her down.  William had made mention that there was a fairly large project coming up, one that was going to be needing all hands on deck at his firm were they to get it done on time and within the client’s budget.  He had explained to Victoria that the frequency of their chats might lessen, ‘just a tad’ he had said, wanting to reassure her that it had nothing whatsoever to do with his still growing affection for her.  And he did truly mean it.

When he had told her, attempting to explain his reasons to her, she did at first believe him.  Mostly because she truly wanted to.  She wanted to believe all that he had said to her over the intervening weeks they had known each other, wanted to trust it was all true, that the possible ‘radio silence’ as he had jokingly called it, really was only going to be as infrequent as he could possibly manage.  It didn’t matter to her that they had as yet to actually meet, even though they lived mere miles from one another. 

Even when, during the couple of times that Victoria had suggested that perhaps they might make plans to actually meet somewhere, there had been a reason each time as to why he wouldn’t be able to. She had even suggested that perhaps they could Skype sometime; that surely, at least to her, would be more convenient, even if only for the ten to fifteen minutes he cagily told her was all he literally had, explaining that he didn’t want to make their first meeting so short, that he wanted to wait until he had enough time to properly spend with her.  

When she attempted to pin him down as to a more specific reason why they couldn’t use those short periods of time to at least be able to see each other face to face, something would immediately, and conveniently, happen that would cause him to need to end their chat, leaving no time to even properly say, ‘Adieu’. So when Day Three of ‘radio silence’ stretched into Four, she was more than a little upset.  She wasn’t certain what was going on, but she did know that something definitely was.  She wasn’t able to as yet discern the full picture as it were, but she was getting it in bits and pieces. ‘Something’ was definitely ‘off’.

Day Four came and went, and when it was over and Day Five was staring her in the face, she decided that some of the patience she had been exhibiting either needed to be rewarded by him, or end up being damned. She decided to write to him, to break the ‘radio silence’ first:

“William...

“I wanted to wait until I heard from you first before I wrote to you, as I wanted very much to respect your wishes to be able to focus on your clients’ needs.  I know how important your business is to you, and have no desire at all to interfere there. 

“That being said...

“Something is going on with you, regarding me.  I’m not sure exactly what, nor why, as I’m not able to ask you about it directly – obviously – but if my suspicions are right, then something has happened to cause you to decide to discontinue our ‘relationship’.  And seriously, at this point I have to laugh at myself for letting myself think of it as a ‘relationship’, to even call it that.

“I’m not really trying to be mean to you here... okay, maybe just a tiny bit...

“But really? How can we call this... whatever ‘this’ is between us, when we haven’t even _met,_ not properly, a ‘relationship’? When every time I try to coax you to meet me, you just shoot it down with yet another lame excuse not to?

“The only thing I can see is that this must have something to do with you maybe thinking that I’m only interested in you because of all the William Powell stuff.  Because of you sharing his name, and according to you at least, maybe looking like him some...

“ _If_  that is the reason you’re suddenly avoiding me, then that is just lame that you think so little of me that you would think that of me, that I could be capable of that.

“If that _is_ the case, then you’ve seriously misjudged me, and unfortunately I’ve  seriously misjudged you too.

“If that isn’t the reason... if it’s something else, then you need to let me know.  Fuck, William, you just need to say something to me, even if it’s to tell me to bugger off. 

“Either way, I know damned well that you’ve had at least five minutes in all of the past five days to send me even just a short message letting me know you’re okay, and yeah, that maybe you miss me at least a little.  That you still fucking care about me.  Your actions here are saying that you _don’t_ have the time for me.  Well, if something is important enough to you, you _make_ the time.

“And if you can’t make the time, then I guess that just tells me that you don’t... that I’m not.

“And if that is indeed  the whole case, then I guess it’s some consolation that I found out now, before I got in too deep, before I ended up letting myself love you more than I already do.

“So, if I don’t hear from you, then I guess this is ‘good bye’.

“Victoria~”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please do forgive me for not posting this update sooner. I've had to deal with a bit of a Spring cold the past few days. I'm feeling better now, and I wanted to get this up for you all!
> 
> So! The beginnings of a bit more drama! Well, humans do seem to crave it, don't they? *wink*
> 
> Please do leave a review? I live and breathe them...!


	4. Nightmares & Radio Silence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After having left Victoria in the lurch, William does some serious soul-searching about what he really wants with her, and just how badly he's willing to let himself have it. But love can be a tortuous affair, especially when that love is just beginning to bloom. 
> 
> Question is: is he willing to stop torturing himself long enough to forgive himself for feeling his fears, or will he careen off into the deep end of self-loathing, and take Victoria with him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, for the people in the back row: I do not own William Horatio Powell, nor anything to do with any of the movies he made. I do own my OC's, however. 
> 
> So, read up this next installment of the story of William & Victoria..!

Nightmares & Radio Silence

 

Five days of ‘radio silence’ was for William a torturous affair.  Guilt was gnawing at him like a relentless predator, and betwixt the insomnia and total lack of desire for food, had rendered him almost entirely useless at his firm. The only thing that had seemed to help, at least at first, was the brandy he usually only saved for special occasions.  “Well,” he quipped, “isn’t this a special occasion? Deciding to just cut myself off from the only thing that’s given me any real joy of late?”

Unfortunately – or perhaps fortunately – the brandy only really worked the first couple of days.  When it became all too obvious that all it was now doing was leaving him with a headache the size of Texas, he decided that was enough of that.  The idea was supposed to be that he be able to sleep so that he could function at work long enough to see this project through.  However, having a near constant headache wasn’t exactly conducive to that.

After the very much failed brandy experiment, the only way he had been able to stay away from Facebook, and consequently ‘her’ – unable to even say her name for fear it would cave him – was through sheer force of herculean will.

Now at Day Five however, all of the physical deficiencies coming on from said lack of sleep and hunger had built up to form a feeling in him so great and awful, it felt as though a huge hammer now lived in him where his stomach once had resided, pounding in him so resolutely that he wasn’t sure how much longer he could bear it. He knew that he was going to have to eventually deal with whatever ‘she’ might have left for him on Facebook; that that would need to be done, and then once done, he would somehow be able to manage to move on.  It was an ugly thought, but a necessary first step nonetheless.

Stepping onto ‘his’ Facebook page, the glaring red of the Message notification icon came as no great surprise.  He found however, much to his great surprise, just how much he was dreading clicking on it.  He knew that more likely than not, he would find a ranting, emotionally charged message filled with venom and vitriol.  He was equally fearful that it might not be from her at all; that she had chosen to simply ignore him, deciding instead to completely dismiss his purposeful silence towards her, thereby harming him even more greatly than any hate filled message ever could. He decided finally to just get it over with now, rather than hesitate and wait with the certain possibility of even more discomfort. 

What he ended up reading, although it wasn’t too far off from what he expected, was neither hate filled nor vengeful.  It was, however, the ending that caused his very foundations to shake to the point of cracking.

“...letting myself love you more than I already do.”

He had ended up having to read, then re-read that part at least a half dozen times before it finally began to sink into his sleep and hunger addled brain just what she had said.  She had not only pegged him squarely, she also had done no less that call him out to the mat.  She was mad, but that was mostly from feeling such a great hurt at not only his continued silence, but at what she had determined – and rightly so – to be his reason for continuing said silence.

She had believed he didn’t care.  Which really wasn’t true, or at least not as she thought.  The whole crux of the problem as he saw it, was that he _did_ care, and too much in fact, and that he feared _she_ didn’t, at least not for _him_ , but for ‘William’. Yet, if she was sincere in what she had said – “God, _please,_ let there be _some_ way that she is” – then that meant that she also meant it when she implied that she loved him.

And if that were indeed the truth, then he had just pissed away any and all chance to finally have what he’d been saying for over a decade that he wished he could find again. When he read Victoria’s message again, tears threatened to fill his eyes, then made good on those threats only a moment later, William finally no longer caring who saw.

Tears of sadness quickly turned to those of regret, and even more quickly to those of anger. William then felt that anger reach a boiling point, the likes of which he’d also not allowed himself to experience in over that same decade.  Rage grew from anger, selecting for it’s victim an innocent stapler, doing nothing more than minding it’s own business.  Not caring that the said same stapler hadn’t done even the least offensive thing, other than happening to be the closest handy thing to choose as a vehicle for that rage, William, while still possessed by that unreasoning rage, picked it up and proceeded to fling the poor stapler across the room of the open office, narrowly missing one of his partners’ head.

Now, said partner didn’t know why his head had suddenly become a target for the unwitting stapler, nor did he really much care, other than for the fact that it was his partner William that was doing the flinging.  Knowing that William was not, as a rule, given to flinging anything in anger, made the very astute observation that something was very, very wrong.

So, after recovering from the very near miss of suffering a potentially rather large dent being put in his head, he decided to find out what was up with William. Said partner brought William a shot of Black Label whisky in hopes of calming him down, at least enough so that he would be able to coherently share with him what had caused the outburst to begin with.  His offering was met with a “fuck it!”, quickly tossing the proffered liquor down with appreciative ease.

After a very brief but concise explanation, said partner looked at William and after a beat claimed he had to be the biggest asshole in the history of assholes.  William glared at him, giving him a look that would have cow-towed someone who hadn’t known him for as long as he had.  Letting William get it out of his system first, he then told him straight out...

“Don’t give me that look, you’re being a Grade A, Number #1 asshole to that girl, and you know it.  The way you’re  handling this is nothing short of a dick move, one I’d never have before now thought you capable of.  I don’t know the full story of what’s gone on between you two, but I _do_ know that these past few weeks – the last few days excepted – I’ve never seen you happier.  And now this crappy excuse of a partner.  And a shit of a person as well.  You need to let this girl off the hook either way.  She doesn’t deserve it, and it’s completely beneath you to do anything less than that.

“Whatever you do, do it soon.  The project is suffering because of your lack of focus, and that isn’t good, not for the client, and not for us either.”  

Watching the back of his partner move away from him, William realized that he was right:  he had to do something, one way or another.  He knew what he _wanted_ to do, of how he wanted it to go.  The only thing was, would Victoria still be open for that too?

~*~

Victoria closed her laptop, refusing to any longer hang out on Facebook, nor to allow any real thought of hope at a reconciliation linger.  She had said what she had needed to say, and if he seriously could not be bothered to even give her any kind of closure, then he could seriously go and fuck himself. Either way, she was done. The mess that was now currently her heart would mend someday she knew, it was just that now, right now, she wasn’t interested in the least in trying to let that happen yet. 

She needed to just let herself cry, to get it all out.  Then and only then could she move on.  Her heart, however, had different plans. It wanted to still both love and hate him.  It wanted more than anything to strike at him, to hurt him with every bit of hurt that he had given her.  She was simultaneously caught between wanting to forgive him and wanting him seriously dead.  

_‘Oh, but no, not dead!’_ said her Heart.  _‘For if he were dead, then that would mean that there would never, ever, ever be any chance again to see him!_ ’

'And why should I care about that? About whether I should ever be able to see him again, even from a distance? Why should that matter to me?' she countered.

_‘You know why...’_ her Heart smiled, as though knowing a great secret that she knew also, but was steadfastly, stubbornly trying to deny.

'No! I don’t! I don’t know.  And even if I _did_ , I’d never give _you_ , nor _him_ , the satisfaction of ever admitting to it!'

_‘Suit yourself, if you want.  Either way, you can’t escape the truth that lives inside me.  And me you shall never be able to be rid of...’_

'I don’t care! You can torment me as much as you like, but I’ll never say it, never!'

_'You LOVE him..!_ There! _I said it_ for _you!’_

'Stop it!'

_‘You LOVE him! You LOVE him! You LOVE hiiiiiiimmmmm...!’_

'STOP IT!!!!!'

The last shrill words hitting her subconscious dreaming mind had the effect of a jack hammer on a brick and mortar road, shuddering her awake violently, dripping in sweat from head to toe.  Dazed at first from the surreal world of her dream, Victoria continued to shake slightly for a few minutes. “Okay, fuck! That was seriously not cool!” still angry with her Heart, reeling from it’s antics. 

Deciding what was needed was a cool, wet washcloth to wipe away the heat and sweat of the nightmare, Victoria swung her feet around to the edge of the bed, and upon standing was greeted with the sight of her closed laptop.  It was a most unwelcome reminder of the seeming reality of the end of what had been such a wonderful, promising start.  It also was a very unwanted temptation, calling to her to get onto Facebook to see if perhaps ‘he’ might have somehow miraculously changed his mind.

“I’m not dealing with you right now,” she told the computer, though that too was a statement that currently carried about as much weight behind it as did her earlier one to her stubborn Heart.  She firmly shook her head ‘no’, crossing the bedroom floor and out to the adjoining bathroom.  Cool water soon flowed over her hot hands, wetting the cloth thoroughly, then applied it, wiping her face, neck, and bare arms.  The sweat now gone, she didn’t really feel that much better she realized.  For the real cause of her unease would not be so easily done away with as was the sweat and heat.

 Swearing under her breath, she caved in and marched over to where her laptop refused to be ignored any longer.  Flipping it open, it began to re-awake; a few moments more, and she was logging back onto Facebook.  Dread filled her once again, though this time not from any imagined fear of finding William suddenly dead.  This time the dread she felt had to do with the equal possibilities that he would either still not have written back, or that he had, only to tell her that he was indeed ending things.  The only thing to her mind at that point that was _not_ a possibility was that he had written to say he was sorry for being an epic dick, and could she maybe forgive him and give him a chance to make it up to her.

“Don’t you _even_ hold out for that, Victoria!” she scolded herself, anxiety heightening with each moment she had to wait for her ancient laptop to wind itself up sufficiently before her Facebook page could fully load.  Finally, there it was:  the moment that she had been both dreading and praying for had come.  There in glaring red and white was the Message notification icon, pinging once to let her know she had an unread message waiting.

“William Horatio Powell” brought several new schisms within her that threatened to completely undo what tiny bit of self-control she had managed to force herself to adopt.  It was fake at best, but it had been all she’d had, and now even that little bit evaporated like so much water on a hot Summer road in the desert.

“Fuck!” she swore for at least the hundredth time.  “How is it he can do this to me? How is it that I let him?” she chided herself, knowing now that it was hopeless to even try to remain emotionally unaffected by anything he might say. 

Thing of it was, she now could no longer deny that she had been only lying to herself all this time, trying to convince herself she could be anything _but_ a rotten mess made worse by anything he wrote to her.  Anything else was only a façade, but it had at least served the purpose of shoring up the pretense of not giving a shit.

Finally – and with more than just a tad of sighing involved – she opened up his message...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew..! Intense, no? ;) Please forgive me for being so naughty as to 'cliff-hang' yet again... I promise you, it will be well worth the wait...
> 
> And I must also apologize for being naughty in leaving you all hanging longer than I had intended. The 'inertia monster' got a hold of me, but, I fought him off!
> 
> I'm also starting to work out a plot line for a Real Person fic on Brent Spiner. There are so many of Data, so I really wanted to do one up of Brent. As soon as I work it all out, I'll give a shout out here, as well as on my other social media!
> 
> Until then, please read & review!


	5. Meeting Upon Second Chances: The Rest of Their Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> William and Victoria's Story has gotten off to a rocky start. And there are more 'rocks' ahead. However Love endures when it is sincere...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My Dearest, Most Lovely Readers...
> 
> Please do forgive me for allowing it to be so long between updates. I allowed 'life' to get away with me; however, I am back, and have decided to post the rest of William and Victoria's story in one, large chapter. 
> 
> There is a definite 'Lemon' in here, so, be fore-warned!
> 
> So, here it is! I do hope you enjoy it!

Chapter Five

 

Opening up his message ended up being harder than she thought it would.  For once opened, it would forever alter her world, regardless of what it said.  Once opened up, then read, there would be no closing it again to try to make believe she had never opened it up to begin with. “Here goes nothing...” breathing deeply, unconsciously holding it, hoping against hope.

“My Dearest Victoria...” it began.

“I have been a supreme idiot.  What these past five days must have been for you, I will never be able to fully know, nor ever be able to fully heal you of.  I am not going to try to make any excuses, nor attempt to use explanations as a way to substitute for such either.  The fault off all of this, of all of your pain, rests squarely upon _my_ shoulders.

“I doubted you.  I doubted your sincerity, your every word to me, and of you yourself, that someone like you could ever possibly be real, much less care for someone like me.  I took your love of someone we _both_ admire and love, and turned it into a convenient excuse to not allow you to care for me.  For you see, I was coming to care for you, deeply and truly, and that scared me.  I got scared, and used your affection for him as justification for not letting you into my life.

“I should have been a Man.  I should have treated you so, so much better... should have treated you the way you deserve to be treated.  I should have let you in.  I should have let you love me.” 

“I should have let myself allow myself to tell you how I felt:  that I too, love you.

“I don’t know if there is any way back from this for us.  I do not know if you are even open to giving me another chance.  I do not know if you even care to.

“But I can tell you this:  if there is, if you are, and if you do care to, I will work my ass off to convince you that you made the right choice... that I am worthy of it.

“So with that thought in view, I’m going to just come on out and say it:  I Love You.

“Either way, I shall now and always remain, Forever _Your_ William.”

 

As she read his message – his beautiful, heartfelt, wonderful message – her Heart exploded within her with a fireworks of _‘I told you so!’_.  Tears flowed now unchecked, unburdened now by any unnecessary desire to stop them.  Had it not been for the fact she was already sitting down, she knew she would have collapsed on the spot, for all strength had fled her body.  In that moment, she cried like she had wanted to do for days, choosing hope instead of denial.

So she sat, and sat for a good long while more, giving free reign to the tears, allowing them to finally carry away with them all the fear, all the doubt, all the anger, and all the hurt.  They washed her clean, and once they had done fully, finally, she found herself somehow on her bed, having no memory whatsoever of having moved herself from the desk where her laptop lay still open.

Arms around her knees, hugging them still slightly desperately, still not completely certain that this _wasn’t_ just some sort of hallucinogenic dream she had somehow unwittingly fallen into again, she pinched herself hard on her arm, the resulting pain and yelp she made providing more than enough evidence that she was in fact totally lucid. Looking at her clock, reality hit her squarely with the reminder of her oncoming shift at the tv station she worked as security at. 

“Damn!” she thought.  She really wanted to talk with William, or to at least write back to him, to let him know that not only had she read his latest email, but that she did indeed wish to at least try to find their way back to each other and what they’d had, that she did care; that she still did love him.

Not wanting to just leave it until she could get online via her iPhone while at work, she decided it would be more than worthwhile to sacrifice a few minutes to write him back.  She zinged off a very short message telling him she totally forgave him, and that she did still love him; that they needed to chat soon about planning to meet in person finally.  She then reluctantly closed her ancient computer, speeding like a madwoman to get herself ready for work.

 

William had been indeed waiting to hear back from Victoria, hopeful that she would give him a chance to make this mess he had created right.  So when the ‘ping’ of his Message notification icon sounded, consecutively lighting up, his heart lurched about three feet out of his body. Like she, he too was finding himself incredibly hesitant to click the icon, still fearful of what might lie inside.  “Fuck this,” he swore under his breath, trying and failing to ride out the sense of false bravado that was currently shoring up his injured heart.  He found he could almost no longer live with himself for the pain he had caused his beautiful Victoria ( _‘could she still be?'_ he hoped, uncertain). 

For any pain, any tears he had inspired to fall, any hurt, rage, or anger she might now feel as a result of his careless, selfish act, lay with him, and only him.  The only thing that kept him going was the thought that one day he could win back her trust, and then her love. Quickly clicking on the Message notification icon, ‘Victoria Marie Carey’ was at the top of the list of messages in his Inbox.  Even more quickly clicked onto was the message itself...

 

“William...

“I only have a few moments to respond, as I am late for work tonight.  Though as I did want to at least let you know very quickly that, not only did I get your message, but that I also do so, so totally forgive you.

“We do, however, need to meet, and soon.

 “I’ll write more later after I’m off work.

“’Til then, know that I _do_ still Love you.

“Your Victoria.” 

~*~

William felt himself literally lurch forward towards the computer screen at the words before him.  More tears, though this time of joy and relief, flooded his eyes.  He felt a burden lift from his heart and mind, yet now almost desperate to fly to her, wherever she was, as soon as he could possibly do so.

“Damnit!” flew from his lips as his reverie was swiftly exploded, remembering the trip he was going to have to make to Oklahoma City the day after tomorrow to see his brother’s daughter graduate from Oklahoma City University’s School of Theatre.  She was receiving a BFA in Design and Production, something that was rather significant to William, for it was a way for him to vicariously live his dream of being in the Theatre, at least in part, through his niece.  He was spectacularly proud of her, having sworn all manner of oaths to her that nothing should keep him from attending said graduation ceremony. 

The only problem was, it was going to take him away for at least four, maybe five days, for when various other relation discovered he was planning to come down for said ceremony, they had insisted that he should visit with them as well.  When he considered the advanced age of some of said relation, doubled by the fact that it _had_ been a good decade since his last visit to any of them, he’d had more than willingly agreed to their insistent terms.

Now however, the timing was showing itself to be, at the very least, down right inconvenient, leaving William feeling horribly torn.  There was no way he could put off meeting Victoria, especially with everything that had just happened.  And yet all the arrangements for the trip had been settled, promises to not back out made in blood; there was no possibility he could do so now either.

He knew he had to find a way to make Victoria not only understand his predicament, but also make her believe he was being completely truthful – again, no small feat, all things considered.  The thought alone that upon her learning of the seemingly all too convenient timing of this event, she was likely as not going to not only _not_ believe him, but that she might also tell him to fuck off, left his guts roiling with anxiety.  That notwithstanding, he knew he simply had to tell her. 

 

A thought struck him that gave him some hope that, if she agreed to it, would go a very long way to softening the blow.  The only thing that might cock it up was the nature of her work hours.  He remembered that she worked from 6pm to 2am, that her days off were Friday and Saturday.  Seeing how it was now already Tuesday, it was going to take some compromise on both their parts in order to make his idea happen.  And William really did not want to wait any longer.  If they couldn’t meet in real time yet, then the next best thing was Skype...

He noted that it was nearly 7pm; he didn’t want to wait the time it would take to send a message to her via Facebook, then wait for her to check for it, then get back to him once she had a moment to do so.  They hadn’t exchanged phone numbers yet, so texting was currently out of the question.  He ended up deciding to message her via Facebook with his number, asking her to call him as soon as she was able, without going into the whole reason as to why it was so urgent.  It was a risk not telling her why; there was always a chance she might become suspicious, and again possibly tell him to sod off.

He answered his quandary with a “Fuck it!”, then logged onto Facebook to leave said message.  All he could do after was to say a silent prayer to whatever gods might be willing to not only listen, but to help him out as well.

“Victoria, please forgive the brevity of this message.  I know you are at work at the moment, making it rather difficult to see or respond to any messages. 

“However, as soon as you _do_ see this, I need you to call me as soon as you can, please?

“Your William <3”

With that, he closed down his computer for the night, deciding to settle in for the evening,  putting on a classic old movie, and after pouring a generous amount of brandy, did exactly that, cell phone never to be more than an inch or so away from his hand at any given moment whatsoever.

 

11:30pm found Victoria more than tired, and very ready to find her shift was done.  It didn’t help that she was only barely beginning to calm down from the emotional storm that had been raging for nearly the past week.  It would be a while before all was even part way right again in both her head and heart, but there was she now believed every good chance that that would soon be the case; that healing was well on its way.  She just very much needed to see him – actually, physically _see_ him.  She knew that would be the turning point in, _‘well, just about everything,’_ she thought to herself. 

Seeing as it was late enough that most everyone was gone from the station, Victoria decided to check her Facebook; something she didn’t normally do.  However, with the turning of the tide of their ‘relationship’, she didn’t want to risk missing any messages he might send her. The familiar red and white of the Message notification icon glaring at her, her heart now also lurched just a bit.  She decided it was a good thing she made the choice to check, at this point not really caring if anyone were to have issue with her doing so at work.  She was especially glad when she saw that, not only had he written her back, but that he was requesting that she call him, and as soon as possible to boot!

“Holy shit! He wants to talk? Like, over the phone talk?” still a bit in shock at this new, very sudden development.  “Okay, deep breath, Girl,” trying not to hyperventilate.  She wondered if it would be okay to call him this late; she knew she didn’t want to wait, especially as the tone of the message seemed to imply making a swift response both urgent and necessary.  Victoria decided to just trust that it was a given that he wished for her to call regardless of what the hour might be.  And so with that, she plugged the headset into the phone jack, and proceeded to dial the number given her.

 

Chapter Six

 

‘ _Bbbbbbrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiinnnnnnngggggg’_

“Hmmmph..? What..?”

Raising his head up, William fought with his sleep addled brain, remembering suddenly he was hearing the sound of his phone alerting him that someone was attempting to call him.  It took a couple of seconds more to remember _whom_ it was in particular that he was waiting for a phone call from.

 _‘Bbbbbbrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiinnnnnnngggggg’_ sounded his phone again. 

William scrambled to find it, it having been moved about whilst he slept.  He realized he must have fallen asleep during his movie, something he should have anticipated might happen, but had failed to.  Having finally found said phone after the third buzzing ring, he quickly slid the phone icon over to ‘Answer’.

“Hello?”

“William?” came the voice that he knew – that he _hoped_ – was the voice of his beautiful Victoria.  The sound was so dulcet to his ears, having the effect of sending schisms of shivers up and down his spine, rendering his heart unable to continue to beat, his breathing apparatus completely haywire.

“Yes! Is this Victoria?”  

 

Victoria found identical reactions happening to her at the sound of _his_ voice.  It at once soothed her nerves and yet set them on fire as well.  To her, this William did indeed sound very much like ‘their’ William. And although there were some few basic tonal differences, for the most part the similarities were significant enough to make in nigh impossible to say there was any real difference.            

“Yes… it is!”

William was now seriously kicking himself for not having let this happen much, much sooner.  Her voice was perfect to him, now finally understanding that, if she were even half as beautiful in person as she was in her photos, he was doomed beyond all hope.

“So… I hope it isn’t too late to call you, yes?” she queried.

“No! No, not at all.  I really rather was hoping you wouldn’t wait.”

“Okay, good.  So, what’s up?”

“Well, I firstly wanted to tell you that I really, really do want to meet with you in person as soon as we can reasonably do so.”

“Oh! Good, me too.  I’m actually really dying to, just to confess a little to you…”

 

William could almost hear the blush that he was fairly certain was crossing that lovely face of hers.  “However, I have something that I need to tell you, something that I had completely spaced…”

“Oh no… no no, please don’t tell me you’re going to have to put it off…”

Tensing, he continued, “I’m afraid I’m going to have to, but I really do have a good reason for doing so… my niece is graduating from university this coming Friday, and I promised her I wouldn’t miss it, come hell or high water.  It’s in Oke City, and I’ll be there for about four, maybe five days.  However…”

“Oh William… please…” she started to interrupt.

“Hang on just a second, Baby, let me finish…”

“Okay…”

“What I was going to say is, as I leave very early this Thursday morning, I wanted to offer you to have a Skype chat, video and all, as soon as possible, perhaps even as soon as you get home from work.  Hence why I was hoping you’d call as soon as you saw my Facebook message…”

Victoria was again stunned.  _‘Okay,’_ she thought, _‘so it isn’t going to be actually in person, but this is really huge!’_ “Oh… wow… William… this means the world to me..!”

Relief once again flooded through William; when combined with the little bit of sleep he’d caught, it had the cumulative effect of rendering him quite pleasantly sleepy. “Awww… Baby… good, I’m so very glad to hear you say that.” He continued, “So, would you possibly be up for it after your shift in the morning, when you get home?”

“Oh yes, yes..! Definitely!”

“Alright then, once I get off here, I’m going to send you a Facebook message with my Skype ID, okay?”

“Absolutely..! It may take me just a few minutes to get everything set up, so I’ll text you as soon as I’m ready, if that’s alright?”

“Very much alright,” he affirmed.  “Okay now you, we okay now?”

“Yes, William, we’re okay now.”

“Good.”  William stretched luxuriously.  “Baby, I’m going to let you go for now, and get some sleep.  I wanna be fresh for you.”

“Hmmm… personally, I think you’re already just a little bit ‘fresh’, what with calling me ‘Baby’ now…” Victoria poked at him, cheekily.

Sensing he was being teased with, he poked back, “Ooo..! Well, do please forgive me, Miss Carey! I must have forgotten myself!”

Victoria grinned, feeling as though something wonderful was now finally taking shape between them; something that _had_ started, but had been torn out from them both, and was now being wonderfully restored.  

 

Lovely, relaxing feelings rushed through both of them.  William yawned almost as extravagantly as he had stretched not but moments before, leaving Victoria unable to resist in following suit. “You poor Baby,” William commiserated, “Are you sure you’ll be okay to do this now?”

“Oh no you don’t! No way you’re going to get out of this, Mister!”

“Okay, okay..! You win.  I was only thinking of your health…”

“My health is fine, thank you very much, Mr...” Victoria stumbled, only now realizing she didn’t know his actual last name.

“Goodness me! Forgive me, my last name is ‘Charles’,” he offered.

Victoria blanked for a minute, not entirely clear if she truly heard what she had, or if sleep-dep had finally had the best of her.  “Wait… did  you say your last name was ‘Charles’?”

Not understanding her confusion, he offered again, “Yes, why?”

“Okay, ‘Charles’, as in ‘ _Nick_ Charles’, as from ‘The Thin Man’?”

 

Realizing now that he had totally spaced this additionally uncanny resemblance between his family name and that of said character, William explained:  “Oh dear.  Yes, in point of fact it is one and the same, I’m afraid.  I guess I never really thought about it much.  I know as a kid growing up, it wasn’t really a big deal, beyond the occasional, ‘oh wow’ factor.  Other than that, it just doesn’t register to me anymore.  I guess I just didn’t think that you might notice that.”

“Yeah, well, ‘notice’ I did! Though, somehow it fits.”

William looked again at the time, and seeing the lateness of the hour, again decided they should hang up for now.  “Okay my Lovely Lady, I really should go and try to catch at least a couple of hours of shut eye before we ‘meet’.”

Deciding he had been sufficiently dangling from the hook long enough, Victoria agreed to let him off.  “Oh, alright then, I suppose I should let you go, at least for now…”

Sensing that he was being teased again, William decided to play along:  “Oh dear, kind, sweet and gentle lady, I thank you most kindly for your generous consideration.”

Stifling a giggle, she replied, “Yes, well, I can’t very well have you falling asleep on me when we do finally ‘meet’.”

“Alright then, you, I’m saying, ‘Adieu’.”

“Adieu to you also, Handsome…” 

~*~

 

Whilst William slept, Victoria rushed home, doing her best to not break every single traffic law in order to do so.  It didn’t help having their first ever phone conversation running on infinite loop through her mind.  She found the prospect of finally, actually seeing him at once terrifying and thrilling.  This first meeting she knew instinctively would either make or break everything she hoped for; for what she also hoped William hoped for as well.

William woke with a start, his alarm waking him at 1:30am.  He wanted plenty of time to at least run a comb through his hair and a cold wash cloth over his face.  As an afterthought, he also decided to run a toothbrush over his pearly whites.  ‘Not that it’ll be necessary, seeing as this is online,' he thought to himself.  He was mostly doing it so as to feel fresh.  It was suddenly very important to him to feel fully ‘together’, so, fresh breath and clean teeth it was. Finally, both were settled in front of their respective computers, having each freshened up, each having quickly made coffee, each doing their best to remain calm, to qualm the raging storm that was each their nerves.

Victoria pulled out her phone to text William that she was ready, that she was logging into her Skype as she spoke.  William looked at the phone in his hand as if it was some living creature that had just bitten him, so startled was he by the buzzing tone letting him know he had a text message.  Quickly reading it, he almost missed the Skype ‘ping’ notifying he had an incoming call from one ‘WilliamPowellsGirl’.

Smiling at the name, he clicked on the ‘Answer’ icon, waiting rather not so patiently for the video feed to open.  A moment later, and there she was:   his beautiful Victoria. And beautiful she was, indeed.  And even more so than any photo of her he had seen.  She wore not a stitch of makeup; however, to him, it was perfect.  _She_ was perfect.  All wrapped up in a fluffy, comfy robe of the palest, powder blue; her black-brown hair framing her face like a fine painting, bright blue eyes he knew he could just sink into and not care if he ever was able to look at anything else ever again.

 

They both sat there for a moment, just taking each other in, hardly able to believe they were, in fact, finally sitting in front of each other.  The thought that they were separated by two computer screens and about a dozen miles made no never mind to either of them at all.   They were there, together, at long, long last.  They both, silently agreeing that they would never let things like ‘time’ nor ‘busy’ come between them ever, ever again. 

There were tears in both sets of eyes, and more than a few tissues gave up their meager life to blown noses, to wipe away those tears.  ‘I Love You’s’ flowed when pauses broke between the sharing of thoughts, hopes, desires, and dreams.  And all of it, everything that they had shared in their first communications, became somehow even more incredibly ‘real’, more real, in fact, than either of them had at first even believed possible.  And the best thing of all was how they now realized they wanted that, now more than ever.

They teased, they flirted; heat radiated between them despite the knowledge they were not actually sharing the same room.  Words that had been typed could now be spoken out loud for anxious ears to finally, actually hear.  Playful banter settled in between them as if it had always been this way for them, as though they had known each other far and away longer than a mere few weeks, so natural was the cadence of it. Finally, 4am called to them, reminding each that a new day had dawned – in more than one way only – and that soon each would need to be in for bed, to sleep, each finding that the other really did not want to be sleeping alone any longer.

They ended up with a promise from William that while gone on his visit to Oklahoma he would text and/or call her every day, at least once.  William knew damned well it was more likely than not  going to be well more than once.  Victoria promised that she wouldn’t bother him, that she would let him contact her first, wanting to respect his time with his family.  William reassured her she was more than welcome to text anytime, and providing he was free to reply,  he would.  “Barring that,” he told her, “I will absolutely reply as soon as I am able to.”

 

They made plans to meet up the Friday after his return.  They settled on coffee at 'Lestat’s On Park' at noon, mostly at his insistence that Victoria be able to get some much needed sleep beforehand.  He wanted her to be well rested for their first ‘in person’ meeting.  Victoria only partially reluctantly agreed, not able to refute the logic of his reasoning.  “It’ll be my treat, too, deal?” he proffered.

“Deal!”

4:30am chimed, and William found again he had to insist that they end the call, promising his Victoria that there truly would not go by even a single day without some communication from him, that she was not at all going to be ‘bugging’ him if she texted him.  He had in fact insisted that he welcomed them, that they, and she, were very much wanted. ‘Adieu’s’ and more ‘I Love You’s’ and then Skype went dark.  True to his word, not a single day went by without texting or calling her, or, she, he.

Tuesday came, bringing with it the arrival back home of one William Charles; a William sorely in want of ringing Victoria up to insist that he couldn’t wait until Friday, that he needed to see her now, that he didn’t want to wait any longer.  He didn’t go through with it in the end, as he did want to wait until they could have enough time to be together and not be rushed by any constraints of such.  It wasn’t easy, holding back like that, but he knew it would be well worth it.  He knew for a fact that it would. 

  

Chapter Seven

 

Scene:  Coffee Shop, 'Lestat’s On Park'.

 

11:45am; Victoria texted William:  “When you arrive, you’ll find me in the back room.”

 

William was only a block away, maybe ten minutes or so from arriving.

 

11:55am; William was standing just outside the entrance.  He texted Victoria:  “I’m here.”

 

Victoria read the text; then looked up at the door leading to the front of the shop.  Her palms were just a bit sweaty; a sudden tug at her stomach, rendering the impending moment a bit surreal.

Then there he was: standing above the rest of the room, he scanned it quickly but carefully, searching for her.  Their eyes met; walking to where she sat, eyes never leaving eyes as he closed the distance between them.  Confident, and yet his eyes betrayed a small uncertainty, a winning smile riding his face like the dawn breaking across the morning horizon. Jet black hair, a matching pencil moustache that framed a mouth just made for kissing, complimented heavy lidded eyes of lapis lazuli repleat with eyelashes that would be the envy of any woman. 'Bedroom eyes' didn't even begin to convey properly the sum and total effect of the way he was looking at her was having on her.

‘Gods! What a dashing figure he cuts!’ she thought admiringly.

 

A moment later found William standing before her in what quite possibly could be the most gorgeous suit she’d ever seen in all her life.  Three piece, of the most stunning medium blue, it had the slightest of sheen to it that had her wondering what on earth it was made of. A notion popped into her head that gave her a serious pause:  ‘Is that _silk_? Dear Gods, if it is, then what oh what am I about to get myself into?’

That was just for starters, for the shirt was the neate _st, most crisp shade of white; the tie, a dark silver grey, the left breast pocket holding a matching handkerchief. ‘Silk too, I suppose…’_ she noted.

To top that all off, William sported, at a cocky jaunt no less, a fedora of a slightly lighter grey, surrounded by a band of matching greys and blues. Victoria had become so enraptured with the vision before her that she spaced his greeting altogether.

           

For his part, William was rather amused, finding himself more than a bit flattered by Victoria’s initial reaction to his greeting.  For you see, he was equally smitten by her, and in fact had been from the moment he had first ‘met’ her via Facebook.  So to see her sitting there, seemingly oblivious to everything except the sight of him, the sweetest look of stunned confusion on her face, caused him to realize he was feeling a little stunned as well, and in the most pleasant way possible. After a moment they both seemed to snap out of it, Victoria apologizing first. “Goodness me, forgive my atrocious manners,” extending her hand out to him.

William took it into both his own, saying, “Not at all.  And even if, they are certainly no worse than mine,” then bending slightly to kiss it, lips lightly grazing it’s knuckles, producing the most delicious spark between them. Eyes looked into eyes, matching realization for realization of something that had only been intimated as yet; something both began to realize that they each no longer were alone in the realizing of. They stood there for what seemed an impossible eternity.  

Finally, William broke the moment, quipping, “Well, I think we’ve shook hands long enough, I suppose,” another beautiful grin breaking across his face. 

Victoria sighed a little.  “Oh, I suppose,” teasing, regretfully reclaiming her hand.  “I also suppose you’ll want to sit down now, yes?” her face showing a playfully cool look that she hoped belied the growing attraction for the man in front of her.

“If you don’t mind?”

“Oh, alright then,” Victoria replied, a sideways glance at him as she moved over a bit to accommodate him.

“Ah, but you are far and away too kind, Dear Lady,” with a flourishing bow, a graceful sweep of hat to hand.

 

Seating himself a respectful distance from her, Victoria was finding it difficult to maintain her ruse of nonchalance.

 “You know,” he began, “that was a dirty move you pulled on me…”

“Whatever do you mean?’ Victoria replied slyly, determined to keep up said ruse.

“I mean it was very sneaky of you, getting here before me long enough to start without me.  If I didn't know better, I’d almost be willing to think you were attempting to go back on the deal you made with me,” a devilish look in his eye.

“It was nothing of the sort, Mr. Charles,” she defended.  “I was merely wanting to make sure we had a good place to sit.”

William didn’t look convinced even a little.  Eyeing her still with the most sinfully naughty look, he pressed, “Hmmmm, so you say.”

“Are you impugning my honor? Because, if you are, you are very much in danger of looking foolish.”

William had to say he was impressed.  Here sat not but a foot or so from him was one of the most attractive women he’d laid eyes on in quite some time.  He’d long had a weakness for short, petite, dark headed women.  The fact she was well spoken _and_ had a wicked jaw only served to double the weak feeling he’d felt in his knees the moment he had walked through the door, able to lay eyes on her again. “Oh, dear, sweet, kind Lady,” hamming it up just a touch, “please, do forgive me?”

 

Victoria had to stifle a giggle at his obvious stage dramatics.  Nothing so much turned her head as a tall, lanky man in a suit.  And here she had one that was playful, gorgeous, and witty to boot.

“Well…” she sighed, “I don’t know.  I shall have to think about it.”

“I do hope you will.  For I am truly sorry for any offense I have given you.”

“Alright then, I shall.  But, it will come at a price…”

“Anything…” hamming it up even more.  “Name your price, and I shall gladly pay it.”

“Well now, I shall have to think about it…”

“Alright then, you think about it while I go get a cup of joe.”

“Very well.  By the time you return, I’ll have thought of a suitable price for your forgiveness.”

“I look forward to it,” William smiled back, a devilish gleam to his eyes.  Something Victoria was finding she was growing excessively fond of.

~*~

When William was gone, she let out a gasp she hadn’t known she had been holding in. _‘This man… Dear Gods…’_   half in awe, half in fear.  She knew she was on the cusp of having one of her most fond dreams come true.  Victoria thought on all of this, again wondering at the co-reality of how it was all so surreal, yet blatantly, patently, and obviously real. Her lovely reverie was suddenly interrupted by the even more lovely interruption of the sense that William was about to re-enter, stage left.  Eyes set upon the door, she had only a moment to wait for the much anticipated re-entrance. As he did so, she quickly recomposed herself to the personae of the aloof coquette.

Silently preparing herself as he approached their table, she pretended to barely notice him, if at all.  The giggle that threatened to escape her was quickly, though barely stifled.  His attempt at playing the penitent, hopeful suitor that was ever so slightly annoyed at her pretense of nonchalance at said approach was almost enough to cause her to break character. Almost. _‘Pull it together, Girl,’_ she inwardly chided herself, as William sat himself beside her.

“Have you thought of an appropriate penitence for me?” he asked.

“Yes, I believe so,” she replied, adding not even a hint of said penitence.

William waited a moment, then pressed when it became clear Victoria seemingly was not going to reveal the details voluntarily. “And may I know what, specifically, you have devised?”

Taking a sip of her coffee, Victoria then answered, “Yes…”, yet nothing, again, more.

  _‘Hmmm… she’s good,’_ he thought, admiringly.  _‘I do believe I’ve got my work cut out for me…’_

“And?”

“I have decided I should like a kiss.”

“A kiss?”

“Yes.”

A wicked grin crossed his face as he prepared to move in closer, his arms beginning to enclose her in an embrace, when he was stopped short.

“Woaaaa there, Romeo!” her arms coming up between them.

“But, you did say you wanted a kiss, didn’t you?” pretending to act confused.

“Well, yes, I did, but not _that_ sort of kiss…”

“Well then, what sort of kiss _do_ you want?” he said, pausing for a mere moment, then a very naughty smile spread over his face, eyebrows arching in mock shock, quickly taking advantage of her confusion at the look in his eyes.  “Oh! Victoria! Do you want _that_ kind of kiss?”

“What on EARTH…?” her concern genuine that somehow she’d been seriously out played.

William, sensing he had at least momentarily gained the upper hand, decided to play it up just a bit, curious to see just how long he could sustain the lovely blush his suggestive query had begun. “Oh now, Darling!” he began, “Although I would _love_ to give you that, don’t you think it would be rather inappropriate to do that here?”

“Oooh! No, you rascal! That isn’t the sort of kiss either, you cheeky monkey!”

“Well then,” feigning confusion, “just what sort of kiss _do_ you want?”

“Here,” tapping her cheek with a curled forefinger.

“You mean, one on the cheek?”

“Yes please.”

“Oh, alright.  A rather boring choice, if you ask me…”

“Well, I didn’t.  Technically, _you_ asked me.”

“Hmmm, yes, I suppose I did, in a way,” William mused thoughtfully.

“Well then?”

“Oh, forgive me, Miss Carey.”

“Pay up, and I’ll consider it.”

“Very well, but I want it noted that I do this under great duress.”

“Okay, you can stop with the melodramatics and get on with the kissing…”

 

With a sigh, William once again drew a much more compliant Victoria into his arms. Victoria had to say, though not to William – at least not yet – just how impressed she was of his skills at romancing.  At least when he was finally being serious. For this William knew _exactly_ how to draw a woman into his arms; knew very well how to approach her, draw her in in such a way that left her not only wanting to be drawn in, but left her absolutely breathless from it.

Had she been asked, she would have had an impossible time of it, of describing just how blown away she was, leaving her swearing that it was just like a scene out of one of William Powell’s movies.  For he slowly, methodically put one arm around her upper back, just above the line of her braziere, while bringing the other around her front,  resting his hand on her upper arm, firmly, but gently, all the while looking at her as though she were the only woman in the entire world.

Victoria suddenly found herself very shy.  Not that that was ruining the moment for her.  It was only because at that very moment the full realization of what was happening became very real to her.

She was now in the very warm, very strong arms of a man that was more gorgeous, more sexy, and much more desirable than any she had ever known.  And more than even that, he was also the one that she had been wanting more than anything for about the past two months now.  It was quickly becoming obvious to her that one of her fondest dreams was about to come true.

For the look he was giving her was nothing short of mesmerizing, as he too seemed lost in some proverbial dream, someplace he too had long dreamt of, but had never even thought would ever, actually come true. Thus it was with much self-control that she resisted the urge to offer him her lips, and not her cheek; he, to not seek anything other than that…

 

 

Chapter Eight

 

 

Victoria could not help it, could simply _not_ give into the feeling of his arms around her; she closed her eyes in ecstasy as his lips gently brushed her cheek, the feeling of his breath warm against it, the slight, delightful tickle of his well-trimmed moustache. Again they both found themselves caught up in a seeming eternal moment, neither of which wished to bring an end to.  Both found such warmth at the simple sweetness of a seemingly innocent kiss. 

Both, however, knew it was nothing even resembling such, in truth. For in truth, both knew that something of great import was passing between them.  Something so phenomenal, so grand, so vital, as to mark the beginning of something both of them had been seeking, yearning for, yet never finding until that very moment when he pressed eager lips to equally eager cheek.

At long last, both decided the moment needed to end, at least for the time being, for neither wished to cause the other to feel unduly obligated to anything that had not as yet been agreed upon mutually. Which was silly as both each separately in their thoughts had. The timing, each knew, was right, was proper, for each was indeed truly what the other had been dreaming of, had been waiting for… had been finally, and at long last, found.

For the moment, only the kiss had ended, William deciding to hold Victoria for just a moment longer, waiting for a sign from her that she wished to be from out of his embrace. Victoria for her part wished nothing of the sort, not really giving a damn one what, if anything, anyone else around them might have thought was or was not appropriate in she and William’s shared desire to continue said embrace. 

 

And so, still locked in their own little world they just sort of sat there, staring in wonder, smiling slightly at each other, sharing a secret neither could as yet put into actual words nor meaning, yet was none the less meaningful.  Both were far too content with feeling that something new, and wonderful, and oh so fragile and precious had just been confirmed, right there, right then. 

And neither was ready just yet to let that wonderful feeling go.  They wanted to savor it, and felt that it would somehow end when their wonderful embrace was ended. Both, however, ended up mutually recognizing the moment had come to end said embrace.  Though they didn’t move apart, settling to sit rather much more close to one another than they had at the beginning of their meeting. 

William could not get enough, it seemed to him, of looking at her.  He wanted nothing more than to draw her into his arms again, just to hold her there so he could breathe her in, breathe in the intoxicating mix of scents of her; of her hair, of her perfume, and best of all, of her skin.  He felt he could most easily and happily spend the rest of his days just holding her so that he could have the continued pleasure of breathing all of her in.

Victoria could only look at him, amazement filling every part of her at this miracle sitting not but inches from her.  She found she had to struggle to not just run her hands over every available inch of exposed flesh she could easily find access to, at least that wouldn’t be completely inappropriate to do so, given the very public nature of their current surroundings. Almost as if reading her mind, William found himself suddenly rather uncomfortable in his trousers, a growing erection forming, having decided to have a mind of it’s own. 

‘Thank God for long dress jackets!’ he thought gratefully.  ‘It would not at all do for Victoria to accidentally see me in such an inflamed state!’ Not that he wasn’t at all sharing her thoughts of just how unfortunate they were at being in so public a place.  No, if he could at all have his way, provided Victoria felt even half the desire for him that he was, and had been feeling for her, they would be off very quickly to a much more private, much more comfortable place, one where they most likely would not any longer be so unfamiliar with each other.

 

As if sensing his body’s reaction to her unspoken desire, Victoria found her own body respond, flushing with a hot blush that threatened to give away more than she had originally intended to.  Curious to see if her suspicion was correct, that William had in fact experienced a decided surge in interest, she decided to test her theory with a little experiment. “William, I’d like to ask you something... actually, I’d like to ask you to do something for me, that is, if you wouldn’t mind.”

Curious himself to see what she might be up to, he answered, “You may ask me anything.”

 _‘Okay, good, he seems game’_ she thought, encouraged at his willingness to play along. “I was wondering and, you are of course under no obligation whatsoever to go along with what I’d like to ask, but… well, I was wondering… what I mean to say is, er…”

William couldn’t help but smile at what he was fairly well able to guess was a very clumsy, yet very adorable attempt by Victoria to ask him to kiss her.  The way she blushed at the asking, fidgeting in her seat, not being able to look him directly in the eye suddenly; she had all the signs of butterflies doing a rumba in her stomach at even the attempt of asking. 

And the fact that she _was_ so nervous flattered him beyond words.  He was reminded yet again as to just how fortunate he was to have the attention of such a lovely creature as Victoria. After a few more frustrated moments had passed, he decided to help her take herself off of the hook.  Drawing her in just a bit, he could both hear and feel her body relax; her breath shuddering slightly, then evening out. Giving her another moment to collect her thoughts, he broached, softly, “There now Darling, just take your time, and relax.  I promise you, whatever you may be wanting to ask, you’re perfectly safe doing so with me, alright?”

           

Victoria looked up into his face, struck yet anew by just how sweet and understanding the man before her truly was.  She searched it, searched his eyes, and everything she found there told her that, not only would it be alright for her to ask him if he would kiss her, but that he had been wanting to ask her also.  “Alright then,” trusting him, locking eyes with him with a newfound intensity, “Would you be willing to kiss me?”

The devilish side of him that would have enjoyed teasing her again the way it had before to such a question willingly deferred to the softer, more sincere and respectful side.   His smile softened even more, reflecting in his eyes, as well as in his touch, pulling her ever so gently, yet firmly, again into his arms.  “Ah, Baby… it would be my immense pleasure to indulge you…”

 ~*~

Now, if Victoria had thought that a mere kiss on the cheek could be so incredibly passionate, so deliciously hot, then what happened next could only be best described as the next best thing to the actual ‘act’ itself. For the way he drew her into his arms was, again, unlike any man had ever done with her ever before. 

Gently, but again firmly, he lowered the arm he had around her back to just above her waist, hand cupping her side lightly.  And at him bringing his other hand around her other side, her hands came up to lay naturally upon his chest, allowing his other hand to hold her just under her arm, palm mere inches from her breast, just enough to be respectful; just enough to tease at how he wanted more.

At the very intimate touch, Victoria made a sharp in-breath, her eyes fluttering in startled amazement at the feelings William was able to engender from this merest hint of intimate desire.  It was personal – _very_ personal – belying the heat he had been feeling for her ever since he first was able to lay eyes on her when they had had their first video chat.  He wanted her, and he wanted her to know that, for there to be no doubt whatsoever of his intentions to seduce her the way she should be, the way she deserved to be.

Victoria’s reaction to his touch inflamed him anew, his already stiff member flaming harder, one that this time he was not especially concerned if she should notice.  No, he very much wanted her to know just exactly what sort of effect she was having on him. The man in him wanted very much to be able to press her close enough so that she might feel, first hand as it were, just how hard he was becoming; the gentleman wanting still to be cautious, respectful.  The resulting tension from this tug-o-war did nothing to ease the desire growing within him to claim her there on the spot.

 

Desire and the need to savor the moment warring within him, he looked directly into her eyes, wanting to be absolutely certain that she did, indeed, want this; that she was very, very aware as well as agreeable to what was to come next.  For he wasn’t merely going to kiss his sweet, delectable Victoria; he was going to do his damnedest to make her understand that as far as he was concerned, she was his now, and his alone.

Victoria thought she was going to swoon from the heat pouring between them, _‘and we haven’t even kissed yet!’_ she thought to herself.  The look in the eyes of the man before her… ‘bedroom eyes’ didn’t even begin to do justice to the sum and total effect of how he was looking at her was having on her.  She honestly did not know how it was she could possibly survive the promised kiss when she wasn’t even sure if she could survive him just looking at her that way.  It was very plainly laid out on his face, and in his eyes, exactly what he wanted from her; indeed, what it was that he wanted to _do_ to her, with her.

The tender moment finally arrived as William’s eyes closed ever so slightly, maneuvering his face to match hers, to turn her face just so, perfectly poised so as to receive his kiss.  As his lips met hers, lightly at first, tentatively, still wishing to at least pretend to be respectful, as they touched hers, he then knew beyond all doubt that this their first kiss was not going to resemble even remotely anything approaching ‘tentative’, nor ‘respectful’.  For as he first touched her lips with his, Victoria moaned lewdly into his mouth, sighing and breathing in his kiss wantonly, her mouth opening up slightly in order to temp him into a much deeper, much more intimate claiming. 

Upon feeling the delicious moaning his beautiful Victoria offered up into his mouth, all bets were then off, with William pulling her closer to him, his thumb now lightly feathering the side of her breast just close enough to elicit more of those precious, lovely moans for his hungry mouth to eat up.  Breathing a deep breath in through his nose, not wanting to break the kiss that was heating up to inferno level blaze, he responded to her invitation to begin a much deeper investigation of her mouth. 

Tongues danced a slow tango that left both of them dizzy, a sweet, hot haze forming with each delicate swipe of tongue to lips.  Victoria’s hands became much more bold, sliding up and into William’s collar, inside of his jacket, desperately seeking a way to divest him of at least some of the restrictive clothing that was denying her the pleasure of running said hands over his bare flesh.  She wanted him, and she didn’t like being thwarted, not even in the smallest of measure.

 

Feeling his Victoria’s not so subtle attempts to get her hands as close to his flesh as she respectfully could, William’s already rock hard member flared again, taking on a pulsing beat as though it were a metronome, pounding out a steady, hard beat in time with his pounding heart.  Turning his body more inward to hers in attempt to shield their intimate joining as much as he could from intruding eyes, he slowly, carefully drew his eager thumb closer to the tip of her breast, beginning a slow, stroking pressure over and upon her nipple.

At this new exploration, Victoria thought she was going to damned near lose her mind at the explosion of pleasure William’s thumb was gracing her breast with.  Moaning suggestively again into his mouth, he replied with his own moans, attacking her mouth aggressively, driving up the speed of his stroking digit.  The delightful feeling intensified to such a height that her nipple acted as a trigger, firing off an orgasm that shook the inner walls of her pussy, shock wave after shock wave releasing spasms of hot, wet cum, leaving her panties thoroughly soaked. 

William had little trouble sensing what was happening to Victoria as a result of his attentions to her nipple, for her reaction wasn’t subtle.  He responded by holding her even more closely, more tightly in his arms in effort to subdue, at least a little, her body’s slight thrashing from her crashing orgasm.  The strength of her reaction inflamed him so, a slight rocking motion of his body joined in time with that of his sweet Victoria’s.  His rock hard erection rubbing up against the inside of his boxers created an intense friction, the result of which culminated in driving him more than a tad insane with pleasure himself.  So great it was that a moment later his own orgasm quickly followed hers, thrusting cum now making an equally sticky, wet, hot mess in said boxers.

And so, thus it was, and went, this their first co-joined sharing of co-joined pleasure…

 

 

Chapter Nine

 

As they each slowly began to come down from the dizzy height of their mutual satisfaction, they broke their kiss, faces still only mere inches apart.  Eyes locked on eyes for reassurance that the passionate event that had just taken place not only had actually happened, but that each the other had no desire to pretend it had never had.  For each was, indeed, a little bit fearful that the other somehow didn’t mean it, didn’t wish to acknowledge it as being anything other than a way to ‘get their rocks off’, and that now that they had, they would never see the other again.

Victoria and William both realized this was the pertinent thought at the forefront of the matter, the crux of the very intimate experience they had only just shared.  The very fact that each the other was able to see this reflected in the others’ eyes was the very act that then allowed them both to find assurance that that was not at all the case for either of them.

Smiles passed over both faces; quite giggles erupted from both at just how terribly naughty their hot exchange was, given the all too public nature of their surroundings.  Not that either one of them gave a rat’s ass one as to what anyone might have thought about it.  It wasn’t as though they were the first couple to do something so outrageous in a public setting. Then again, they mutually agreed, the term ‘making out’ utterly failed as an accurate describer of what had actually taken place between them.  Probably more like ‘publicly molested’ each other.  But hey? ‘A rose by any other name’, right?

William and Victoria finally began to get themselves together once again, discussing what the next logical step should be in this new development in their relationship. “So,” William started, softly whispering to Victoria, “I’m thinking,” deciding to be just a tad presumptuous, “maybe, if you haven’t any plans for the rest of the weekend, I might be able to temp you into allowing me to sweep you away off to my home, to stay with me? I mean, I don’t know about you, but I should like very much to continue, properly, what we’ve started here…”

Victoria looked at him shyly, thinking how lovely it would be to let him do that, to carry her away, to be able to spend a whole weekend with him at his home.  There was also the thought that it would be nice to be able to get away from the ‘Ex’ for even just a couple of days, of how much she would love to be able to not have to deal with him and his bullshit for even a just a little while. As she was thinking this, William looked at her, becoming just a tad worried that he had somehow misjudged her, that perhaps she didn’t really wish to extend things between them beyond this first precious exchange.

 

Feeling him tense slightly, she quickly realized he was misreading her pause as she was formulating how she was going to relate to him her concerns over what she knew most likely was going to be her Ex’s reaction to her new situation. 

“Oh no… William, Love… I absolutely want that, to spend the weekend with you!”

William relaxed, letting a long breath out that he hadn’t realized he’d been holding in.  “Okay, that’s good… I’m very glad to hear that.  But I can tell something is on your mind, something to do with you being able to do so…”

“Yeah,” she huffed out, “there is…”

“Okay, if you let me in on it, maybe I can help you figure it out?” he queried, hoping she would.

“It’s just… well, I’ve told you about Dennis, about some of the stuff he tries to pull on me…”

“Oh! Well, yes, you have.  Are you anticipating him reacting badly to you being with me?”

“Well, kind of yes, and kind of no…” she stumbled.

“Look my Lovely Girl, you can just tell me what you anticipate, it’ll be okay, I promise.  Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it together, alright?”

 _'Well, here goes…’_ she thought.  “Alright, here’s what I’m afraid of:  I’m afraid that when he finds me gone, he’ll flip.  I mean, I’d leave a note for him, obviously, so that he can’t use the excuse of being ‘worried’ for me, where I’m at, am I okay, and such.  What concerns me is that he’ll pull something, anything from starting some passive-aggressive bullshit conversation of why I didn’t deign to tell him about you, to something really serious like threatening me with kicking me out.  Which, honestly, at this point, I am so done with him and his mood swings, that I would much rather just pack my shit up and put it in storage, and just live out of my car.”

 

William’s blood began to boil at even the thought of the possibility this ‘Dennis’ person could be such a douche bag that he would use threats like that as a way to get Victoria to let him treat her however he liked.  She had told him during some of their many conversations of some of the things he had attempted to threaten her with when she dared to stand up to him for it.  It would always take her making William promise that he wouldn’t do anything, should he ever meet him. 

Not that she ever planned to let that meeting _ever_ take place. However, after the ranting text messages Dennis had sent her, reaming her a new one regarding how loud she had been during she and William’s early morning Skype meeting – despite the fact there were two doors and a bathroom between them – she was beginning to seriously reconsider letting William out of his promise to not interfere. 

She hadn’t wanted to get into it with Dennis, for it never ended well for her, regardless of what she did.  If she ignored him, he would start ringing her phone a million times, leaving the nastiest, most horrid voicemails; voicemails that bordered on verbal assault. 

And if she did answer him back, it ended up in a texting version of a verbal fist-fight, one she never could win either.  Both reactions from her always resulted in him starting a huge row with her the minute either one of them came home from work or wherever else they might have been.  It didn’t seem to matter to him how inconvenient his timing; when he wanted to get his self-righteous redemption back, he took it, Victoria’s current state notwithstanding.

Either way, she knew there was going to be hell to pay, and as it was Dennis being the one holding the claim slip, life was going to be very interesting in the coming few days.

~*~

Making an effort for Victoria, William held in check his rising temper at the thoughts of what he wanted to do to her Ex.  The tack he decided to take instead was one of helping her deal with whatever said Ex ended up throwing her way.  He was, however, a bit curious as to why she had not told Dennis about them. “Okay, so let me ask you something, if it’s alright?”

She nodded, mentally preparing herself for what she believed he was most likely going to ask her about.

“You mentioned that you haven’t told him about me, about us.  And I want to say now that I’m not upset that you didn’t.  I would like to know why though, just so as I can put everything into better perspective.”

 _‘Yup,’_ she thought, _‘nailed it!’_ “Honestly? I just didn’t want to have to deal with anymore bullshit from him.  I knew that if I told him about you, and us, it would be him constantly making it into the butt of his every joke.  That, and there would be him using the knowledge of ‘us’ as ammunition against me, as yet another way for him to intimidate and even threaten me into putting up with his bullshit.  And I just really, really do not want to deal with the consequences of what giving him anymore reasons to fuck with me than he already does would mean.”

At the second mention of Dennis making any sort of threats toward ‘his’ Victoria, William found himself again struggling to maintain his composure. “Victoria, I know that I promised you I wouldn’t interfere.  And I’m sorry if it causes you to be upset with me, but I am simply no longer willing to stand idly by and allow him to continue to treat you like this, much less threaten you, no matter how small that threat might be.

“That being said now,” he continued, “when he finds out,” stopping to give her a meaningful look in response to the denial forming on her lips, “I need you to promise me you will tell me straight away if he threatens you in any way, and I don’t care what time of day or night it is, or what I may or may not being doing.  I am not going to have you put up with any more abuse from him, do you hear me?”

 

At this passionate display of his, of him saying unequivocally that not only was he going to keep being there to listen to her whenever she needed someone to talk to, but that he also was now firmly entrenched in his decision that, whatever she needed, no matter what, he was going to make sure he provided it for her, come hell or high water, tears formed in Victoria’s eyes.  Hot in her pride that she resolutely did not want to be ‘rescued’, she was all too certain that it would be a huge mistake to move in with William at this point in things.  It wasn’t that she was opposed to maybe eventually living with him.   She merely didn’t want that to happen because she had no place else to go.

Then there was also the fact that, here was a man, a real Man, telling her firmly that she wasn’t alone anymore.  And as much as she wanted to believe him, believe that he meant every word, there was the fear that somehow maybe he didn’t really.  She had to consider that possibility, as loathsome a one as it was.  She simply could not bring herself to think that anyone would ever really mean it when they said they were there for her.  And the fact that she _did_ so very much want to believe him made the tears flood even harder.

At the sight of his precious Victoria coming undone from what he had just said to her, he was again utterly ruined.  His heart broke for her, at what he felt very certainly must be going through her mind and heart just now.  It put very solidly to home for him just how abusive her Ex had been, and apparently was still very much being to her.  He began to understand only too well how it was some people could find murder so enticing.

He drew her into a hug, pulling her close to him, tucking her face against his shoulder.  He whispered to her that she was safe now, that there truly wasn’t anything in this world, nor in any other, that he would not do for her; that there was no place he wouldn’t go to be with her, that he would never again allow any excuse to keep him from her ever again.

More hot tears flowed from Victoria; silent, small shuddering sobs moving against him.  It was all he could do to not weep out loud for love of her, for the sadness he felt at hers, for the anger he held against that _thing_ that dared to call itself a person.  All he knew was that the person known as Dennis had better tread very carefully from this moment on.

 

Still holding her close to him, rocking her gently, slowly in his arms, William found himself deciding then and there that it didn’t matter what her asshole of an ‘Ex’ thought to do or say to her next.  He was going to do everything in his power to convince his sweet, wonderful, and very beautiful Victoria to come to the conclusion that moving in with him now rather than later, was not only a logical one to come to, but that it was truly safe for her to do.  He knew it might take some strategic convincing on his part, for his Victoria was a rather strong willed woman when it came to most anything. 

Not that that put him off in the least.  No, not even close.  He actually very much admired her strong sense of independence, of her defiance at the thought of being anything but as self-sufficient as she reasonably could be.  What was more, he knew why she was so, knowing of some of her history, of her hard won sense of self love and even of pride of all that she had accomplished, and of how all of had formed her into the awesome person that she now was.

The trick, he knew, was to get her to let him help her, to realize that she could allow someone to help her when she needed it, that doing so wouldn’t take away any of those things from her in doing so.

 

 

Chapter Ten

 

 

And so it was that William sat, holding his precious Victoria, letting her tears flow unheeded, whispering to her still of how she should simply let them; of how she was now safe. Rocking her slowly and gently, Victoria knew for the first time in what had seemed to be ages, a comfort and calmness that she had grown to believe might never be hers again.  For nearly four and a half years she had traded not only her sanity, but her self-respect and independence as well, for the ‘privilege’ of being ‘allowed’ to stay in Dennis’ spare bedroom. 

She had at first thought that now that she was no longer sharing a bedroom, as well as a bed, that things would be able to at least be a modicum better for her; that having her own room, being able to close the door, to have some privacy finally, would somehow encourage him to be at least a bit more respectful.  That somehow, closing that door to her room would make the message clear to him that their former relationship was now closed fully as well.

And at first Dennis had begun to, at least initially, seem to be willing to accept their status as ‘roommates only’.  He tended to leave her alone for the most part, not speaking to her unless absolutely necessary.  The first few months after their breaking up had her hoping that things would now perhaps normalize themselves between them. It was about six months into this newly formed situation that Victoria found out that, not only was Dennis completely unwilling to ease up on her, but that he now seemed determined to intensify his passive-aggressive behavior towards her.

 

It started when Victoria had had the sheer audacity to decide to date again.  She had made the very unfortunate mistake of telling Dennis that she was going to be out on a date that night, that the man in question would be arriving at roughly 6pm to pick her up, asking Dennis that if she was in her room when said man arrived, if he might mind answering the door, to let her date in to wait whilst she finished getting ready.

Dennis had simply glared at her as though she had just asked him to kill his own dog, then after a beat, began to rip into her about how he felt it was not only very inappropriate that she should have someone come to _his_ door to pick her up, and why couldn’t she just have had him wait downstairs for her to go down to him, but that it also simply would not do that she hadn’t bothered to even inform him that she was, in point of fact, dating someone, acting as though he still had some sort of claim upon her. 

Victoria had at first reacted as though she had been caught out, red handed, dipping into the cookie jar after she was supposed to be in bed, having been so entrenched in her attempt to just keep Dennis from having any reason whatsoever to be able to start anything with her.  Righteous indignation quickly replaced any feeling of guilt, reminding herself that she wasn’t doing anything wrong at all, and hadn’t done.  That she had every right to a personal life, that if she wanted to date someone, that shouldn’t be a problem in the least.  That Dennis no longer had any legitimate claim on her, nor on any part of her life.

 She recouped, glaring back at him, staring him down with a white-hot intensity that made Dennis realize that maybe, just maybe, he had finally pushed just a tad too far.  She began with a brief, though very concise explanation of how, yes, she was now beginning to date someone, of how it wasn’t any of Dennis’ damned business, and ended with how there shouldn’t be any issue whatsoever with said date actually coming to _their_ door to pick her up for said date.

“Well,” he retorted, in a weak effort to regain the upper hand, “just don’t bring him back here to _my_ apartment,  ever.”

“Fine,” she agreed, icily, staring him down still, daring him to keep talking.

 

After that, Victoria had decided that from then on she simply would not tell Dennis anything she didn’t absolutely have to.  It was completely ridiculous that she had to now lie to him, about, well, pretty much anything and everything, just in order to have what little peace she did have.  Victoria detested liars; the fact withstanding that she was now one, even though it was done out of a need to have even a semblance of a ‘normal’ life, did little to assuage the guilt she felt at this now needed, yet very unwanted state of affairs. 

Even now after all of these years, she hated it still, that she had to continue being dishonest with Dennis, and about so many things.  She shouldn’t have to keep allowing herself to be in a situation wherein it was not only necessary, but imperative that she was forced to act in such a manner.  “But what other choice do I have?” she chided herself for the well over thousandth time. 

No, it was either deal with the guilt, or live out of her car again.  And things hadn’t gotten so out of hand that _that_ alternative had become the better one.  No, what she was doing, although wrong both morally and ethically, had made life at least bearable.   

Now, William.  Now, a chance to put all that guilt aside, to be able to clean herself out of all of the many years’ weight of that.  Here now, in William’s arms, listening to William’s soothing voice speak to her of another, better choice, and she had truly begun to allow herself to believe she’d died and gone to heaven. 

For he wasn’t offering her only a chance to love, and be loved again, but a home, a chance for a wonderful new life with someone that she believed with all her heart and soul she could trust.  With those thoughts playing in her head, William’s words soothing her ravaged heart, Victoria whispered for the nearly hundredth time in the past fifteen minutes or so just how much she loved her Beautiful William, and he, smiling and breathing his Precious Victoria in, offered up a prayer of gratitude to whatever gods that might be listening.

 ~*~

They sat there together for a few moments more, allowing themselves the comfort of each other's embrace. William was the one to finally break the spell, knowing that what they needed now was to formulate a plan as to how they were going to deal with what both knew was going to be the inevitable confrontation with Dennis. “So,” he began, “here’s what I think we should do.  Now mind you, this is only my thoughts on it.  If you have a better idea, or something to add to what I’m going to offer, you feel free to jump in, okay?”

“Okay.  What do you propose?”

“What I propose is that we start by going back to your apartment, to collect what you’ll need for the coming week…”

“So… you’ve decided that we’re just going to go ahead and move me in, have you?” she queried, teasingly.

“Yes, I have,” he replied, putting on a playful air of manly authority.  “And besides, do you really think that if you spend the weekend with me, he’s _not_ going to blow a gasket over it? That he won’t make any threats against you again?” he added with a meaningful look.

Victoria had to admit that William had a very succinct point.  She knew only too well that Dennis would react exactly as William had said he would.  No, if she were to spend the weekend with William, even if she _did_ leave Dennis a note, he would totally flip out, finding it to be the perfect excuse to threaten her yet again with eviction.

No, if she did this, decided to spend the weekend with William, she was going to have to decide to take William at his word and move in with him.  And honestly, she was just so, so incredibly tired of and done with the melodrama that was the past four and a half years of living with her Ex. 

 

William waited patiently, watching Victoria as she was thinking these things, knowing that this really was not at all the easiest thing for her to decide to do.  He was nothing less than asking her to take a huge leap of faith, to trust that he truly did know what he was asking, that he knew full well her reasons to hesitate; that there was every real possibility she would elect to just chuck his offer, effectively chucking him and any chance of ‘them’ right along with it.  Victoria looked at him finally, smiling, and when she did, William knew he’d won the day.

“You’re absolutely right.  There’s no way in hell he’ll stand for me spending a weekend away, not with you, nor with anyone.  It really wouldn’t matter whom it was with at this point.  He believes he’s got me under his thumb, so for me to do something so audacious as go on a date with a man, much less spend the weekend with one, would give him all the justification he feels he needs to threaten me with kicking me out.”

“Well, alright then, so it’s settled, yes? We start with having you prepared for a week, and then we can come back, say next Saturday? To pack your things to move them to our house.”

At those last two words, tears began to flood Victoria’s eyes anew.  William, fearful he’d again inadvertently said something wrong, looked at her and said, “Baby… what’s wrong? Did I say something wrong?”

“Oh god no! Oh William, no, not even close!” Seeing he wasn’t fully convinced, she continued, “Oh come here, ya big lug,” pulling him in close in a hug.  “It’s just that you called your house ‘our house’…”

William breathed out a huge sigh of relief.  “Goodness you scared me for a moment!” he sighed into her ear.  “Of course it’s ‘our house’ now.  You’ll even have your very own room, a place all your own that you can retreat to whenever you’re feeling overwhelmed, or hell, even if you just need to get away from me for a bit!” 

           

Victoria pulled back to look at him, incredulous at what he had just offered her:  a place of her own, a private room all hers only, for whenever she needed to escape even temporarily from whatever might be stressing her.  It was a huge thing he was offering her, something so enormous, so downright damned sweet, that all she could do was look at him with renewed wonder.  And then after a beat, she said, “Oh William, you beautiful, beautiful man you,” kissing him as though he was the most incredible thing she’d had ever laid eyes on, which, in point of fact, was exactly how she felt.

It was all he could do to not very simply drag her off to his car right then and there, what with the way she was kissing him.  For what had started as merely a kiss filled with gratitude had very quickly turned very heated, threatening both sanity, and again, all rules of public propriety.  The way she’d had encircled his neck with her arms, offering herself up open wide, he found he simply could not, nor did not want, to resist pulling her to him as close as he humanly, possibly could and still at least seem to be somewhat caring of not giving everyone else in the room a free sex show.

Mutually agreeing, and with more than a bit of reluctance to pull away from said fiery kiss, both cleared their throat, William beginning first:

“So then, I’m guessing you are amenable to what I’ve just offered you, yes?”

“Yes… yes, I am.  I just…” she hesitated, searching for the best words to describe properly just how much what he was willing to do, to offer her, of what it meant to her.  “You just keep blowing me away with how you are with me, with how you think of me, and treat me.  I’m not used to it, is all.”

Looking at her, he softly answered, “I know.  Look, I can’t promise you I’ll never cock up, ever not make a mistake, or ever not do anything dumb.  But what I _can_ promise you is that you’ll never have anything less from me than my best.  I know that may not be enough, but will it be good enough?”

Shaking her head in amazement yet again, she looked up at him and said, “Oh William, don’t you know that’s all I’ve ever wanted, ever?

Not quite understanding if she was accepting his offer or not, he looked at her in mild confusion. She giggled, then clarified, “That’s a ‘yes’, my Beautiful Man.” And then kissed  him for at least the millionth time that day.

   

 

Chapter Eleven

 

 

The drive to her apartment was a short one, being only a few, scant miles from 'Lestat’s'.  “Just follow me,” she’d told William.  “You’ll have to find a place on the street to park.  I’ll guide you to just in front of where my apartment building is.  It’s still fairly early, so there should be plenty open.  Then I’ll go park in the stall out back,” she explained, telling him she’d come through to the front gate to let him in.

Dennis wasn’t due to be home from work until at least 4 o’clock that evening, leaving them to have plenty of time to hopefully get what she would need for the week, to write him a note briefly explaining the new situation as well as she and William’s plan to return the following Saturday to collect the rest of her things.  As it was a Friday, there was also the hopeful anticipation that Dennis would be back later than 4, as he typically stopped at the grocery before arriving home.

They quickly gathered up her things, finding her overnight suitcase for clothes, a duffle for toiletries, Victoria grabbing a couple of garbage bags to serve as a suit bag for her uniforms.  They were very nearly done when suddenly, they heard the front door open, sounding Dennis’ unscheduled arrival. “Shit!” Victoria swore, panic swiftly grabbing hold of her stomach, producing an unpleasant surge of bile into her mouth. 

Seeing her rising panic, William came to her, putting his hands on her upper arms by way of attempting to calm her, with a view toward helping her regain focus. “Listen, we’re almost done here, yes?” Victoria nodded, feeling more than just a little bit sick.  “Alright then, you finish up here, and let me go deal with him.”  She started to protest, but he silenced it with a kiss, and a look that instantly calmed her.  “I promise I’ll be civil, but if he should act an ass, I will deal with it, not you, understand?”

Victoria nodded again in agreement, not really able at that point to argue.  Fear was still firmly entrenched in her stomach, rendering her breathing sketchy.  She chose to concentrate on finishing packing her things, leaving William to close her bedroom door behind him. _‘Here goes nothing!’_ she thought.

 

It was needless to say that the last thing Dennis expected was to be greeted with some strange man walking into his living room.  And so his reaction didn’t surprise William at all.  Dennis surged at him, swinging with both hands at what he believed was an intruder, thinking that his luck had finally broke after all the years he’d lived in what he’d thought was a relatively safe apartment complex.  William deftly side-stepped Dennis’ not so clumsy attack, quickly retreating back while bringing up his hands in a clear offer of surrender.

“Whoa, whoa, Old Man..!” William cried out, trying to distract Dennis long enough so that he could have the chance to explain his unexpected presence in Dennis’ apartment.  Upon seeing said unexpected man not only not attacking him, but actually retreating, Dennis stopped his physical assault, trading it for verbal one.

“Who the fuck are you and what the fuck are you doing in my house?!” Dennis screeched at William. 

“My name is William Charles, and I’m here with Victoria,” hoping to diffuse Dennis’ growing hostility.

“Wait, what..? Where is she? I don’t see her…”

“She’s in her room…”

“What? What the hell…?”

“If you’ll allow me to explain…”

“No! No…” Dennis huffed indignantly, pushing past William roughly.  “I need to see her!”

“I wouldn’t do that, Old Boy…” William stepping in Dennis way.  The last thing that needed to happen, William knew, was for Dennis to get to Victoria.  He knew things would end rather badly for all of them, were he to.

“Get out of my way!” Dennis deftly maneuvering around William, running to Victoria’s bedroom door, and once through it, slamming it shut and locking it, both startling and frightening her greatly. 

“What the hell is going on Vicky?!”

 

Victoria cringed at Dennis' use of the shortened version of her name.  She’d asked him only a zillion times to please not do so, explaining that it wasn’t her name, that she didn’t like it, only to be ignored by him a zillion and one times, willfully choosing to use it as yet another way to irritate her.  Rounding on him, Victoria glared at him with white-hot fire in her eyes and venom in her voice. “What are you doing?! You open that door now, do you understand me?”

Ignoring her completely, Dennis retorted, “NO! I won’t! I want to know what the hell is going on! Who is that guy out there, and what the hell is he doing in my apartment?”

At that last bit, Victoria lost all self-control.  “Firstly, this is _our_ apartment! Secondly, the ‘guy’ out there is my boyfriend, and thirdly, the reason he’s here is that he’s helping me pack what I’ll be needing for the week until we can come back here and get the rest of my things and finally move me the hell outta here!”

Dennis, stunned at her tirade, actually felt sick.  Of all the times he had threatened Victoria with kicking her out, not once had he truly meant it.  He simply couldn’t stand it when she defied him in even the smallest measure.  When they had broken up, he made the gesture of magnanimously allowing her to have the other bedroom to stay in, wanting to at least appear to be amiable at their no longer being a couple.  It was only a ruse, of course, one that he had hoped she would buy, that she would eventually grow tired of sleeping alone, of being single, and eventually come to realize that she missed him, and wanted him back.

For Victoria, nothing could ever be further from both her mind, and the truth.  Once in her own room, she’d had begun to feel as though she could reclaim not only her sanity, but her autonomy as well, at least in some small measure.  As the time had passed, and it became more and more obvious to Dennis that she wasn’t going to respond to his well thought-out plan to win her back, the more and more disagreeable he decided he was allowed to be with her.

It was with that realization, and decision, whereupon Dennis set himself to making life as miserable and uncomfortable as he could for her.  If she wouldn’t respond to his kindness, he’d force her to with his rudeness.

~*~

Dennis didn’t know at all how to even begin to process what Victoria had just spewed at him.   

How could she do this? Do this to _him_? Did she really not know how he still felt about her? About how all he had been able to think of, night after night, day after day, was of how all he wanted was for her to realize she needed him? Of how much he still wanted and needed her?

And now here she was, actually leaving him, actually going to walk out that door, with that… ‘guy’, never to come back to him.  Dennis knew he had to act, and act fast.  Crossing her room in three quick steps, he grabbed her up into his arms roughly, kissing her.  Stunned and more than a tad grossed out, Victoria pushed out of his arms, and socked Dennis soundly in the eye, the force of which caused him to stumble back a good foot or so.  “How _dare_ you?!” she roared at him, hands fisted, raised up, ready to deliver another good sock should the first one not have it’s intended effect. 

 

Now, all this while, William was doing his damnedest to get the door open, short of ripping the thing straight off its hinges.  He’d followed Dennis as he had made his break for Victoria’s room, being cut off only by a second with the door slammed in his face.  He had been able to hear every word between her and Dennis, and at the sound of what could only be Dennis attempting to force himself upon his sweet Victoria, William decided he didn’t give a damn one if he damaged said door, hinges, frame, and all.

Putting all his weight behind it, William rammed the door squarely with his shoulder, causing it to come off, the sound of wood screaming as the frame decided to give way instead, leaving the door hanging by one screw.   

Seeing his Victoria looking for all the world ready for a good fight, the ferocity of her anger showing in her eyes matched if not exceeded what he was feeling for Dennis himself.  Had it been anyone else, he might have actually felt at least somewhat sorry for him.  For even though Dennis was still standing, William could see the shiner that was already beginning to form around his left eye. 

As it was, he didn’t, although he did know just how fortunate Dennis was that William had managed to force his way into the room when he did.  Had he not, Dennis might have been foolish enough to try again, and had he, he would have ended up with a lot more than just a black eye.

Victoria for her part was so angry, so enraged at what Dennis had tried to do, tried to force her to do, that something had finally broken in her.  Entrenched in full on berserk mode, all she saw was red for the would-be attacker.  In that moment, she was all instinct, ready to murder him where he stood, should he be dumb enough to come at her again.

 

All the years of his constantly tearing her down mentally and emotionally, putting her down, making her the butt of his every joke, belittling her at every turn, all culminated in this moment.  All of the resulting rage, formed of endless tears drawn on account of him, of his ceaseless, hurtful words and thoughtless actions, now repaid upon his face with her up-turned fist. 

William knew exactly the outrage that burned within her now, knew that he would need to help her come down out of the adrenalin fueled desire to strike out at anyone that approached her whilst she was still burning from the fire that raged in her for vengeance at all that she’d had to endure these past years, that also she’d had to endure in only the past few moments.  He knew when he did, like as not, she’d strike out at him, not yet come down off that burning high, seeing only an enemy that needed routing out.  It was a chance he would willingly take in order to help quench that angry, unseeing fire.

As he walked past Dennis, he gave him a glare that unmistakably conveyed to him just how lucky he hoped Dennis realized he was to escape with only a black eye.  Dennis looked at him for only a second, then quickly looked away, caught out at last for the coward he truly was.  Slowly coming out of the hormone fueled trance, her breathing became less labored, calming slowly though surely. 

 

William stood a few feet away, ready to catch her should her body fail her, wanting her to come out of it as much on her own as she safely could.  She looked up at him, a momentary look of confusion crossing her face, then suddenly remembered what had just happened, of why she was now very suddenly more exhausted than she’d been in some while.  She looked from him to over where Dennis stood, nursing a quickly blossoming bruise over his eye, the lid swelling spectacularly.  “Did I do that?” she looked again to William. 

“Yes Love, you did,” speaking in soft tones so as to not exacerbate what he feared might be her horrified reaction to what she had done. 

“Good,” she said.  “Fucking asshole finally got paid what he was owed,” her jaw set firm.

“So, you’re not upset with yourself, with having hit him?”

Victoria rounded on William, not understanding that he was, in point of fact, very proud of her, and not at all chiding her.  “No! I’m not.  Why should I be?” she challenged.

“Oh no… no my Darling, I’m not upset with you, not even in the least.  You had every right to react as you did!”

“So, you’re not upset with me?”

“Good Heavens, Baby!” pulling her into his arms, beaming at her with nothing less than pride and love.  “Not only am I _so_ not upset with you, I am so stinkin’ proud of you, I could just spit!”

 

And at that confession of complete and utter acceptance of her, something healed within her; something that she had thought might never, ever heal in her.  For as strong as she had thought herself to be, never had any man ever before not only tell her that it was not only okay to be strong, but that they actually admired her for it.  And with that little bit of magic, came that long awaited healing, courtesy of one William Charles, living miracle extraordinaire.

 

 

Chapter Twelve

 

 

William gave Victoria one more looking over, wanting to make certain she wasn’t going to collapse.  A quick look from her that she was fine, that she would be careful, satisfied him, at least for the time being.  He then turned his attention to Dennis.  “You and I need to have a talk, _now_ ,” adding a look that would have made paint peel.  He was glad when Dennis seemed willing to comply; he really was not in any mood for any further antics.  His patience had been stretched thin enough from what had just happened, so he couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t absolutely lose what little was left of it, should Dennis decide to act up.

Now in the living room, William motioned to Dennis that he should sit down.  When Dennis made to refuse, William glared at him, warning him that he best just do it.  “I hope you realize just how lucky it was for you that I came in when I did,’ William started.

Dennis half way looked up at him; William could tell that he was at the beginning of a real winner of a headache.  He softened a bit at that, as he knew how much it must hurt, having had his own share of black eyes himself.  “Where do you keep your aspirin?” William offered.  Dennis looked confused, not understanding.  Compassion was the last thing that he was expecting from this man, especially after what had just happened. 

“Look, I know you must have a humdinger of a headache coming on.  You’ll need to get some pain relief going, or it’s only going to get a lot worse.”

“It’s in the bathroom, in the medicine chest on the wall.”

“Okay, you wait right here while I get it, you understand?”

Dennis just nodded, and was rewarded with a new surge of pain.  He needed to get a steak on his eye soon, then remembering he hadn’t one, moaned in an agony that was both physical and emotional. This just was not the way he had ever imagined in any of his nightmares as to how things would end up between himself and Vicky.  And to make matters worse, the man she had ended up choosing over him was actually trying to be nice to him.  He didn’t know if that made him feel better or worse; he wasn’t used to people being nice to him when he had treated them the way he had Vicky.  William seemed satisfied that Dennis would behave himself for at least the time it would take him to retrieve the aspirin and a glass of water. 

           

A moment later found William standing over him again, offering to Dennis both.  It was all Dennis could do to not just cry right there and then.  Between his Vicky not only hitting him, but utterly and completely rejecting him, and then to have this man, her ‘boyfriend’, be so nice to him, it was all just too much, too overwhelming.  Quickly swallowing the proffered aspirin with a swig of water, he finally broke, not giving a damn one what this ‘William’ might think of him.

Now, for William’s part, he’d never been the sort of person that could ever truly be mean to someone unless forced to, and most certainly not when they were in the state that Dennis was currently in.  The man was clearly undone by the events having just taken place, and right or wrong, the emotional toll for all them was great. 

He sat himself down beside Dennis, and putting a hand on his shoulder, began again, “Look, I know this is a lot for you to deal with right now, I do.  You and Victoria both have had a lot going on for a very long time, having both had your hopes and dreams and plans.  I know this is not at all how you wanted things to go with her.  Any man that had any brains at all would do everything in his power to try to win her over.” 

Waiting a beat, he went on. “That being said… you must know that she doesn’t love you, yes?”

Dennis just nodded a sad nod of his head.  William continued.  “Well, I can tell you this wasn’t easy for her to do, not by any means.  She wanted this to happen in a very different way.  She wanted to be able to tell you about her and me, that we had decided to move her in with me.  And she most certainly never wanted to lie to you about any of it.”

Dennis shook his head, pained tears staining his cheeks.  “Then why did she? Why didn’t she tell me about you? About her going to move in with you?”

           

William weighed carefully what he wanted to say next, not wanting to add insult to injury.  He decided that full honesty was going to serve all of them best.  “As for the first part, she didn’t tell you because she had mentioned that when she had tried to in the past, you didn’t react very well to it.”

Letting a moment pass to let that sink in, he continued. “As for the second part, we had only decided today that we were going to move her in with me.  Our original plan was to be that we left you a note letting you know everything.  She never intended that she would just leave without letting you know.”

Dennis took this all in.  Oh, it didn’t ease the sting of what had just happened.  However, it did go a long way towards helping him accept that it was what it was, and that he could either fight it, or accept it.  And as he was feeling right then, he really didn’t have any fight left in him.  “Well,” he started, “if this is what she really wants, then I guess I really don’t have any choice in it.  I know that all I ever wanted was for her to be happy, and I thought I could give her that.  I guess I can’t, and I really don’t want to fight her, or stand in her way.  I just hope that maybe someday she can forgive me for everything.”

Breathing a deep sigh of relief, William squeezed Dennis’ shoulder gently.  He didn’t know if this new Dennis would stick, but he was willing to take what he was being given, and hope for the best.  “Alright then, what goes on between you two from here on out is going to be up to you both.  Though, I will warn you, you need to let _her_ make the first move.  She’s dealing with a lot right now too; you’ll need to give her plenty of space, and time, okay?”

“Yeah, okay, I get it,” Dennis said, accepting that this was just how it was going to have to be, at least for now. 

 ~*~

Victoria had been sitting on the edge of her bed, trying very hard to wrap her head around what had just happened.  In all of her wildest dreams, she’d would never have dreamt that what had happened, had.  Dennis had grabbed her, and in point of fact had kissed her.  She shuddered again at the thought of his lips touching hers, much less that they had the _way_ they had.  It just didn’t make sense. 

 _'Well,'_ she thought, _'I guess it kinda does, in a weird alternate, parallel-world sort of way.'_ When she let herself look back on it, on everything that had transpired in the last four and a half years, it really did make sense, if she logically analyzed it.  She could see how, in Dennis’ messed up version of ‘love’, that everything he had done, everything that he had said, regarding her, was in his way, his way of showing her that he loved her; that when she tried to separate herself from him, he viewed it as her rejecting him, that that was something his ego just couldn’t handle.  And then because of that, he responded by using controlling tactics, punishing her with abusive words and behavior as a way of getting her to capitulate, to come back to him again.

It was very messed up, but it was very understandable.  It was cruel, and horrid, and beastly.  But that didn’t mean it didn’t make any sense.  Because it did, because it helped her to at least understand why he was the way he was, and had been with her.  And after everything, she really didn’t want to hate him.  She was not at all convinced that they could ever be friends, but at least she could forgive him.  And she knew she needed to if she ever wanted closure, if she ever wanted to be able to move on with her life.

It was mostly for the sake of that new, wonderful possibility of a life with an equally wonderful man that was the impetus behind her growing desire to forgive and move on.  There would be no forgetting, not by a long mile, but she did at least have it in her to forgive.  She owed that to herself and to William, to the new life they were beginning to build.

 

Having come to these realizations helped her find the motivation to finally organize the last few things she would be needing for the coming week.  She found she still had to shake her head in order to set the realization within her that this was actually happening, that she was starting a brand new chapter in her life; one with an absolutely amazing man, one that she’d long dreamt of, but had never really believed would ever really come true. 

Her reverie was broken when William walked through the door.  Tired and upset, though only a little less perhaps than she, even still, it was like he shone, like some Greek or Roman god of Love, or maybe of Mercy, she wasn’t sure which, or if maybe he was somehow both.  What she did know was that the man that had just walked through her now former bedroom door, was single-handedly the most beautiful, wonderful man she’d known in a very, very long time.

Now, it wasn’t at all lost on William how adoringly his precious Victoria was looking at him.  Seeing her sitting on the edge of her bed, looking more than just a little bit lost and worn, his heart leapt and then hurt anew at the knowledge of everything that had just happened, of what she’d had been forced to do; of her anger, and the now seemingly sudden acceptance of it all.  He could see that she’d processed most of it, and he knew that, like as not, in the intervening hours, even days, more emotional fallout was very much possible. 

He also knew just as surely that he would be there for her, be _for_ her, whatever she needed from him and of him. Sitting down beside her, he pulled her into his arms, wanting only to offer his shoulder, to comfort her, to just be there for her and with her.  “How are you?” he broached, tentatively.

Huffing out a long breath, leaning into his embrace, she started, “I’m okay. I mean, yeah, I’m maxed, for sure.  But, for now, I’m okay.”

“Will you be okay to drive?”

“Yeah, I should be fine.”

 

Looking sideways at her, he gave her a look that said that wasn’t a good enough answer.  She redoubled, “Yes, my Darling Protector,” stopping to stifle a giggle, “I’m fine to drive.”

“Alright then, are you done packing?

“Yeah, I think I’m done here, for now.  How’s Dennis?”

William was truly touched by her asking.  Oh, he knew that she was a good person, one of the best, in his humble opinion.  She really didn’t have a mean bone in her body.  Like him, however, she could be terrible in her rage if pushed too far.  Still though, that she could show someone that had just injured her, had been injuring her for years, could show them compassion, caused him to fall in love with her all over again, right then and there. “Oh, he’s hurting alright, and in more ways than one.”

Seeing her question at what all he meant, William clarified, “He and I had a bit of a talk, man to man.  I’m fairly well convinced that he’s genuinely sorry for everything, most especially for today.”

“Well, if that’s so, then good.  Though, I’m still not sorry for socking him.”

William chuckled, “Oh, I don’t think you should be, not by any means.  It may actually have been exactly what was needed to get him there.  Literally knocked some sense into him..!”

Victoria guffawed at William’s reference, adding, “You know, I think you’re right!”

William gave her a final squeeze.  “So, if you’re done here, we should probably get moving.”

 

Looking at her watch, seeing the hour growing late, she agreed.  “Yep, I’m as done here as I can be for now,” a long, stretchy yawn punctuating her point.  This did not go unnoticed by William, deciding it was perhaps necessary to reconsider the wisdom of letting Victoria drive.  She was a proud one, but also willing to capitulate when you could offer a good reason for her to.  He’d have to tread easily, but he was confident she would in this.

“Darling, are you certain you’re up to driving right now?” At the defiant, though tired look she gave him, he pushed gently.  “Now don’t be upset with me.  The only reason I ask again is that it’s plain you’re worn out, and I would much rather you simply let me drive us.  Besides, we can always come back tomorrow to collect your car.” 

Victoria knew he had it right; that his reasoning made perfect sense.  She really didn’t need her car until Sunday morning for work.  And worse to worst, she knew that if absolutely necessary, William would be more than willing to drive her to and from her work.  “Alright then, my Darling Man, you win.  Though, do you think it’ll be okay to leave it here?”

William knew what she was thinking; that Dennis might offer up some last minute resistance.  He still felt that it would be alright to leave it there, explaining, “I’m certain it’ll be fine.  We’ll just be sure to let him know our plan to come and pick it up tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay.  But I don’t really want to talk to him, not yet.  I’m not saying I won’t ever, I’m just saying not now.”

“Understood, my Darling Girl.  Tell you what:  give me a minute to let him know what’s up, then I’ll come get you to leave, yes?”

 Victoria slowly blew out a breath that she hadn’t been aware she’d been holding in, agreeing, “Okay, yes.”

“Alright then, I’ll be right back.”  And then leaving her to go help Dennis through this final hurdle.

  

 

Chapter Thirteen

 

 

With everything packed in his truck, William went up to have some final words with Dennis.  Victoria sat waiting, the effects of the adrenaline rush slowly turning into shock.  She was completely drained mentally, physically, and emotionally, her body shaking slightly now that the hormonal uproar had quieted.  She was very glad that William had convinced her to let him drive them both to his – 'no,' she reminded herself.  'Our home.'  

Feeling as she was now, there was no way she'd be able to drive.  And with each passing moment leaving her feeling more spaced out, well, there weren't many coherent thoughts for her to grab onto to.  The one lifeline she had was now approaching his truck, bearing a look that, in all honesty, she really wasn't in any shape to interpret at the moment.  She decided to wait for said lifeline to join her, to gather his thoughts before he spoke to her.

"He wants to speak to you," opened the conversation.

She sat still, a look of incomprehension crossing her face, incredulity striking her at what seemed more than just a little inappropriate, given what had last passed for a 'conversation' between them.  "Okay, what on earth makes him think for even a fraction of a moment that I would agree to such an absurdity?"

William had to stifle a giggle at her unique combination of descriptors.  Here she was, post-berserk, mid-shock, and still she could zing 'em.  "I know.  He said he wanted to apologize to you, to reassure you that your things would be safe until we could come to collect them next Saturday."

Victoria offered up another look of squint-eyed confusion, shaking her head in disbelief.  "I swear to gods, for the life of me, I just don't get how damned dumb he can be sometimes.  I'm seriously starting to think I must have socked him a lot harder than I thought."

 

Turning to face her, he could only smile at the memory of Dennis standing there with a sore eye, Victoria with her fists raised up as though she was ready to deliver his soul to Hades should he be unwise enough to go for a second attempt at her.  "Yes, well, be that as it may," turning himself more toward her, "I do actually believe he's sincere in his wish to make amends with you.  Though I did tell him that you probably weren't likely to be open to it just yet."

Leaning her head back into the seat with an exasperated huff, rolling then closing her eyes as though she just could not be bothered to continue to look upon a world that had obviously gone completely mad, she managed to get her temper under control enough to give William a civil, albeit frustrated 'no', explaining that she would deal with it later, once everything had evened out for her emotionally.  William nodded in acceptance, letting her know that he would deliver her message to Dennis, and then they could, finally, be off to go 'home'.

As William played messenger, Victoria took in a large, deep breath, holding it, and then letting it out slowly.  Twice more of the same, and she actually began to feel some sanity finally evening out her overworked mind.  This was not at all the way she'd hoped things would go today, not even close.  She still couldn't believe how easily Dennis had within him the ability to bring her Animal so close to the surface, and then some.  She had literally blacked out from the time he kissed her, to the time William came into the room, bringing lucidity and calm to her again.

Her Animal growled at the memory of the red hazed rage that had overtaken her, of how it had freed It from the depths of her soul.  Victoria hated to admit it, but it had felt damned good to know that It was still there, still willing to aid her when she most needed It's strength.  It wasn't something she was necessarily proud of, nor something she let happen but only very rarely; however, she was glad nonetheless.

 

Walking back to his vehicle, William could see Victoria slumped back still, eyes shut in pained expression.  _'What all she must be feeling,'_ he thought sympathetically. Sighing inwardly, he thought again on all that had transpired in just the last couple of hours, of how it had all started out so lovely: the two of them finally meeting in person, _actually_ in person, and not via a computer screen.  The memory of their first passionate kisses, of how he touched her, of her response, of how they had driven each other beyond crazy; most significantly of their mutual orgasm, the first of many, he hoped.

Just the thought of all those lovely, wonderful things, and he could feel an erection forming. _'Jesus!'_ he thought. That the slightest thought of her, of what they had shared, could bring him to such a state amazed him anew.

Not that it was the first time, oh no siree! Since they had 'met' online – once it had become established between them that there was a mutual attraction –  nearly every damned day had had the effect of gifting him with at least one stiffy that simply would not go away, no matter how many baseball stats he recited.  Nope, the only way it would bugger off and leave him alone was to take 'matters' into his own hands, aided by one of several fantasy scenarios of him and Victoria.  The Animal within him growled with anticipation at the thought of finally being able to claim It's Mate.

"Okay now you," he chided his Animal, "that's enough of _that_ for now! We need to get our lovely lady home and rested."  Growling again at being told It was going to have to wait, nevertheless It tapered back down, though not agreeing with It's Human's assessment.  It was with that thought that, at least for now, his urge to claim his lovely Victoria was under better control, that he entered his truck, a quick look over to her revealing that she was asleep. "Well, good then," he decided.  "All the better for when we arrive home. I can just tuck her into our bed and let her sleep this nightmare off."

Victoria, however, unbeknownst to William, had other plans wafting through her adrenaline fatigued, sleeping brain…

~*~

The drive home had proven quiet, Victoria managing to sleep so deeply that she didn't awaken even for a moment. A silent 'Thank You' offered up to whatever gods might be listening, grateful that at least some of them seemed willing to bless them with some well-deserved peace and calm. Turning into his – now 'their' – driveway, William found himself hoping that he would be able to get away with being able to carry Victoria into the house, and then straight into bed. _'Gods know she needs the sleep'_ he thought.  

However, even the best laid plans of men and mice do rarely seem to bear the desired fruit. The greater the need, the less so it was, or, at least, that was how it seemed to William at the moment.

For as the engine died, Victoria awoke, a bit hazy at first, initially confusion at her whereabouts, recognition of the truck, of William, then remembrance of everything that had just passed.  Bowing her head slightly, she took a deep breath, rubbing at the crick in her neck that had formed from sleeping upright.  As her vision cleared, she was rewarded with one of the most wonderful sights she'd seen in a long while: her new home.

Stunned anew by what that meant, the reality of it, of all of it, settled upon her, and within her. Turning to William, tears in her eyes formed, of joy, of happiness, of such immense gratitude and love for him, that she simply just could not contain it all.  Beaming at him with a look of love that simply could not be expressed with words, she closed the space between him, putting her hands upon his handsome face, kissing him for all she was worth.  "You are _so_ going to get lucky just as soon as we get inside of that house, Mister!"

The Animal in William threatened to leap right out of him, straining the surface of William's mind and body at the very thought of his precious Victoria's desire to consummate what had started at the coffee shop.  All William wanted to do in that moment was to do some consummating of his own with her, so great was his need and want.  Indeed, 'need' and 'want' warred within him with 'necessity', for although he had little doubt Victoria was more than willing to satisfy the former, he decided that the latter was, at least for now, of the greater import.

 

He knew though that he would have to convince her of this, and very carefully, for he hadn't any wish to cause her further upset with what was likely to be seen as a rejection of her.  William looked at her, trying his best to convey to her with his eyes and kisses that he did, indeed, want her, and very much so.  A moment of letting that pass from him to her, he gently took her hands from off his face, and touching his forehead to hers, exhaled quietly to her, "Let's go in now."

Not comprehending what William intended, she chose to believe that that was just his way of affirming his mutual desire also to finish what they had started mere hours ago.  But there was something in the way he'd said it, something that just didn't sit right with _how_ he'd took her hands away from off his face, with how he now suddenly couldn't seem to look her in the eye.  When combined with all of the aftermath of the stress from the confrontation with Dennis, as well as the shock that was only just finally gone, a sick feeling began to grow in the pit of her already upset stomach, one that threatened to cause it to relieve itself of what little contents it contained.

Victoria decided that she was just overreacting, that she was just overwrought from everything, that she needed to calm down and to try to not be so sensitive.  _'Everything is fine,'_  she thought to herself, _'I just need to relax.  Once we get inside, then we can finish what we started.'_

Her few necessities were collected from out of William's truck, brought into the house, and sat on the floor of the living room.  Victoria stopped to take it all in, everything was just so beautiful.  Rich, dark blues, golds, and sage greens ran a motif throughout, complimented by dark oak wood floors, end tables, and book shelves.  A massive fireplace owned one wall, of a lighter sandstone tone.  A soft sofa of a generous length and depth was joined by a large, dark oak coffee table, facing said fireplace.  All of it bespoke of warmth and welcome. It all spoke of 'home'.

 

William stood watching his beautiful Victoria take in the view of what was now her home.  That she seemed pleased, pleased him greatly as well.  It was one of his greatest hopes that, upon finally being able to see it, she would take to it as she now seemed to be.  He wanted, more than most anything, for her to feel welcome here.

She then turned her eyes to him, and he wanted to swoon. The way she was looking at him at that moment… all love, all heat, not completely believing that this moment was real, that _he_ was real, hoping and praying that he was.  He understood the feelings well, for that was exactly how _he_ was feeling as well.

Something also that was not lost on him was that she looked as though she might drop at any moment, she was so worn out.  He could see her eyes flutter slightly, as though desperate to stay awake, not wanting to miss a single moment of anything. He walked over to her, pulling her into his arms again, wanting to offer her more comfort and warmth.  There was only a faint trace of cool skin now, for which he was glad. He hated to admit it, but he'd been rather worried for her adrenaline induced state of shock.  That that seemed to be finally leaving, he breathed a sigh, again, of much relief.

For Victoria's part, leaning into him, breathing all of her William in, feeling his steady heartbeat, the rise and fall of his chest, had the sum and total effect of invigorating her, which left her wanting him, and in the worst way possible.

  

 

Chapter Fourteen

 

 

They stood there for several deep, long moments, body to body, arms engulfing one another, breathing each other in.  Yet, as the moments extended, so did also the sense of unease that had initially insinuated itself within her whilst sitting with William in his truck upon arriving home.  She wanted so much for him to extend the comfort of his arms into the comfort of his lips, his kiss.  She wanted so, so very much, for him to begin again the passionate embrace they'd first shared in the coffee shop.

And yet, there they stood still, not moving.  She could feel hesitation grow slowly within him, within his body, within his arms.  Said hesitation then shifted from merely a feared thing, something not yet proven, morphed into something that stiffened his arms, as though _her_ unfounded fear now was something living within the whole of him.  Infecting her, Victoria tried to not let it swell up within her and choke her. _'No,'_ she thought, silently, _'I just need to be the one to make the first move,'_ thereby convincing herself that all was well, and that, for some unknown reason, William was hesitating.  That all she had to do to break that spell would be to move.

With that thought, she slowly slid her arms up from under his, to move them to his chest, pulling lightly from him, only just enough so that she might look upon his beautiful, handsome face.  His eyes bore the expression of want, need, and desire, but also with hesitation.  _'But why?'_ she queried internally.  Fear, now fully formed warred in her heart with trust; trust that he did still want her, still wanted to finish what they'd started, and that maybe he just needed a moment to drink it all in.  "William..?" she opened.  Then, after a beat, his gaze shifted downward, as though he bore a terrible secret, one too terrible to confess to for fear it would hurt her irrevocably.

 _'Okay, enough of this!'_ and claimed his lips, her arms encircling his neck, stretching languorously against him, having to perch upon her tip toes, trusting that he would hold her secure.  She could feel the heat build in him, of desire building to a much needed crescendo, one that promised to sweep them both away as surely as she knew he would sweep her up into his arms at any moment, to ferry her into their bedroom, and into a very sexy, very passionate display of what she hoped would be hot, sweaty monkey-love.

 

So when he broke their kiss, it was only to pull himself out of her arms.  And for William's part, it wasn't all that easy to do so, though not for the reason Victoria had hoped.  For instead of sweeping her up and away, he instead reached for her hands, slowly and very, very gently, to draw them down to rest between his own.  Oh yes, he wanted her, and also in the worst way possible.  But he couldn't, he just, simply, couldn't.  He had to protect her, had to comfort her.  There were needs, and then there were other, more important needs, ones that had to do with her physical, mental, and emotional health.  He wanted the privilege of her body, but said health came first, even if it meant risking her being upset.  He believed that, even if that did happen, that Victoria would see that he was right in this.  "Come on, let's take your things into your bedroom."

Victoria was more than a little stunned at this new development, William's words fulfilling every dark prophesy her intuition had foretold of.  She didn't know what to say, and not wishing for an argument, just kind of looked at him.  Having let him take the lead since everything that had started with Dennis, she was still on autopilot, feeling more than just a little bit of a new sort of shock, but thinking in the moment, _'Well, okay then…'_ , and followed him to 'her' bedroom.  She decided that, apparently, she wasn't going to be sharing his room after all.  If that were the case, she decided that this was going to start out on a very bumpy, very uncertain foot.

The bedroom –  ' _her_ bedroom,' she reminded herself –  turned out to be very beautiful. It was, in point of fact, more than just a little inviting.  Muted peacock colors accented with subtle golds, walls of a very soothing darker gold, and dark oak everywhere, from the bureau dresser, to the floor, to the occasional table in one corner next to impossibly gorgeous French doors.  Had she not been so upset, she would have had a greater appreciation of her new room.  As it was, all of it, of how beautiful and inviting it was, of William's pure intent, all of that mattered about a rat's ass worth at the moment.

She wanted to be grateful, she really, really did, wanted to trust him, to believe everything that he'd said about not only wanting her and needing her, but also of how he wanted only to protect her.  She hoped so badly that she was somehow misinterpreting what was happening; that, somehow, this was just to take her things someplace where she could sort through them, where they wouldn't be in the way in what she'd been given to understand was to be 'their' room whilst they proceeded to molest each other.  But the closer they got to 'her' bedroom, the more her fear closed it's icy hand about her heart, leaving her feeling that, with each step closer to that room, there was matching footstep farther away from William, and her hoped for dream coming true.    

 "Alright then, here we are! Your room, Mi' Lady!" pronounced William in an attempt to lighten her mood.  Which of course had exactly the opposite effect intended…

~*~

As those words sunk in, so also sunk in the realization that this truly was where he intended for her to stay.  Confusion dawned upon her face, and like a fast moving thunderstorm, threatened to turn nasty, and very quickly into anger.  And when Victoria got as angry as she was feeling at that moment, it never, ever, turned out very well for the target of that anger.  

At first the fear she'd felt growing in her heart had decided to wage war on her already upset stomach. _'No!'_ she raged. _'This is wrong, wrong, wrong!'_ Hot tears began to form in her eyes, her face flushing from her anger and embarrassment at feeling very strongly that she had been played for a little fool.  It became so bad that she could feel a sort of numbness setting in at not being able to deal with every horrible thing she was currently feeling.  It was just too, too fucking overwhelming to deal with rationally.

She could feel her Animal growl, pushing at her mind, wanting to be set free again at this new threat to her. _'No! This is William!'_ she told it.  _'Whatever is going on, I have to at least try to deal with it rationally.'_ However, It had It's own ideas of how what was seeming to happen needed to be dealt with, insisting, pushing, begging her to let it do so.  She was close to the 'boom!' point, and wished to gods she could just have a moment alone so that she could get herself, and her Animal, under control.  She needed desperately to put some distance between herself and William for a bit.  If she didn't, she knew there was a really good chance he'd end up doing or saying something that would set her off but good.

William stood by, hopeful that his attempt to inject some light-hearted humor into what was proving to be something not so light-hearted would do just that.  It was actually looking like he'd very much misjudged how his intentions would actually be received by Victoria.  Oh, he knew there was every good possibility that she wouldn't be happy with what he was trying to do for her.  He just hadn't thought she would react as strongly as she did.  As he watched her, it was as if she'd retreated into her own insular world.  She looked ill at first, then upset, which was closely followed by anger.  It was when he saw her tears falling that he knew he had, very much indeed, made a very unfortunate mistake.

 

Unsure of what to do, not wanting to make things worse, he finally decided he just couldn't stand by whilst she cried.  It broke his heart, seeing her so obviously hurt and confused; that he'd also made her so obviously angry as well... well, that didn't sit well on him either.  He knew it was a risk to approach her, for he had no way of being assured she wouldn't end up socking him the way she'd done Dennis.  He also knew it was a greater risk to _not_ at least make the attempt.  Either way, he knew he could very well end up being damned, and in so, end up damning them both…

And so, taking a deep breath, he crossed the space between them, though slowly so as not to startle her.  That would be very bad he knew.  Especially as it seemed as though she was still somewhere else.  He decided the best course was to approach her from directly in front of her; and once so placed, he reached for her, especially mindful to be gentle.

"Don't touch me!" Victoria screamed, rage exploding as though William's slightest touch was as gasoline on bone-dry wood.  As she began to retreat, William made to keep hold of her arms, serving only to fan what had been but a small fire now into a raging inferno.  She struck at him, though not with the blind berserk of her Animal, though still a little too quickly for William to duck completely, a fist clipping his left shoulder. _'Okay, that was a mistake!'_ he admonished himself, whilst simultaneously making a quick retreat of his own out of Victoria's range.

Seeing William retreat helped to calm her, but only a little at most.  Oh no, the rage was still in full tilt, and all it would take to rev it up again would be for him to take even a step towards her.  He could see her seething, trying desperately to get her anger and feeling of utter rage under some semblance of control.  He realized finally that what she needed of him was to just stay where he was, and wait until she was ready to make a move.

           

Victoria was nearly vibrating she was so incredibly upset at what she had deduced was nothing short of William's utter betrayal.  All the hurt and anger and fury of having had to deal with nearly five years of abuse at Dennis' hands was now fully transferred to this moment, and she didn't know who she currently hated more:  William for doing it, or herself for allowing him to.  Either way, she knew she was going to vent it, and if it ended up hurting him, _'then fuck it, and so let it be!'_ she silently swore in oath.

 "How could you do this to me?!" she began, her dagger-tipped words making the first of what would be many cuts, she promised herself.

"What? What did I do?" William answered, looking for all the world as though he had literally been led into the land of the 'Death by a Thousand Cuts'.

Tears filled her eyes anew, blinking them down her face.  "Here I am, and I've just been through hell, what with having had to deal with Dennis, and, how I hit him… and how I didn't want that to happen that way… and, and how all I wanted was for you to make love to me, to claim me… how I just wanted to come here, to be with you, live with you like you said you wanted… and now… now I just don't know what's going on!"

 "Oh gods yes Victoria, YES! I DO want that, all of that! I do, I just… I just wanted to take care of you… to just let you have some time to rest and sleep, and get recovered, that's all!" he poured out to her, wanting to help her understand his reasons behind his actions.  "I know I should have talked with you about it, that I shouldn't have just made the choice for you.  I just wanted for you to get a little sleep, Baby… I wanted to make you a nice hot bath, so you could just soak and relax, and then – "

"You wanted to _bathe_ me?!" she screamed again, not at all being able to even slightly grasp his logic.  Seeing the hurt on his face both mollified her and left her feeling just a little bad that she was hurting him.  Yes, she felt he'd brought this on himself, but really, she didn't want to hurt him.  Dredging up every single reserve of calm she could possibly muster, she softened just a little, continuing, "I know you meant well, William.  But you were 'handling' me.  You made a decision as to what was best for me… deciding that you knew what I needed, instead of asking me what _I_ wanted."  When he tried to inject a defense, she brought up her hand to stop him.

"I know.  You had the best of intentions towards me… that you really did think that what you were doing was the right thing for me.  You wanted to take care of me.  I get that.

 "But you didn't trust me.  You've been working so hard to get me to trust _you_.  And yet all this time, all 'this' –  gesturing between the two of them –  "didn't really mean a damned thing to you, did it? I mean, not really, did it? Because even though you wanted _me_ to trust _you_ , you weren't really willing to trust _me_ , were you? At least not when it really mattered, did you?"

William didn't know how he was ever going to begin to repair this mess he'd made.  But of one thing he was utterly sure of, and that was he was going to move Heaven and Earth if that's what it took.  He just needed to convince Victoria he was worthy of the chance to do so…

 

 

     Chapter Fifteen

 

 

William felt gutted, the Thousand Cuts nearly fully delivered.  He could sense there was a final blow, one last Cut, the one that would be the fatal one.  His own tears flooded, and he didn't care.  He needed to make this right, to somehow get her to forgive him.  "Please Victoria, please forgive me, please..? All I was trying to do was take care of you, that's all.  I was wrong in how I was doing it, and for that I am so, so very sorry, my Darling Girl.  Please… please… just allow me the chance to make this right…"

Seeing him cry, his eyes and face full of tears and a regret so deep it nearly matched that of the Marianas Trench, she very nearly caved.  She didn't want this, not _this_ , not this terrible, horrible angry sadness between them.  It was killing her to see him like this, to know that, yes, even though he'd brought this on himself, she had it within her power to make all of it go away.  She could forgive him, and they could go on.  She could offer him healing, to be healed in return.  She wanted that, so, so much.

And all would be well, and good between them.  Until the next time…

 

It was that fear, the knowledge that this would most surely not be the only time he did this, made the decision to 'handle' her.  Just the thought of it, that this would undoubtedly happen again, and she knew then that there was just no going back.  She wished to gods she could, that she could somehow believe him when he said he knew he was wrong.  But she was just too scared.  And she was just too done with people, anyone, deciding they could just summarily circumvent her sovereignty simply because they felt they knew what was best.

"I can't," she said, finally.  William nearly dropped to his knees, a cold, empty death weaving it's way through his guts.  There it was; in those two, simple, small words was delivered the final, fatal, mortal Cut.

"Baby… no… please, Victoria no– "

"No, I can't… please, I just… can't.  I want to… and this is killing me.  But I just can't.  I can't trust you now.  And I've been through nearly five years of hell, of walking on egg shells, not ever knowing what I was going to walk into.

"And I'm not saying that I think that's how things would end up between us; that that's how we'd end up…

"But after everything, I need to be able to trust you, all the way.  And now I know I can't.  And if I can't trust you all the way, then it just isn't going to work."

 

Renewed realization of what was actually, fatally, playing out in front of him, and William just couldn't believe it.  How could he have been so wrong? So completely missing the mark, so thoroughly _wrong_ about how to help her? Resignation seemed the only honorable thing left.  He hated it, this bitter, ugly feeling.  But Victoria had made it clear this was the only option left him.  "So, what do you want to do?" he asked her.

"I'm going to get a Lyft back to Dennis'," she began.  She could see William's fear that she was going to go back to stay, so she cut him off, continuing, "I'm not going to go back into his apartment. I'm just going to take what I have, put it in my truck, and find a cheap motel to hole up in until I can get the rest of my stuff sorted and packed.  And then from there I'll just move back to Vegas like I'd planned to before I met you."

"No, Victoria, you don't need to leave right away."  As she started to protest, he continued, explaining, "No, I'm not going to try to convince to forgive me, or give me another chance.  Just… just stay tonight, okay? Get some rest? I'd just… I'd just like to know you'll be okay for tonight, please? And then tomorrow morning, if you still feel the same, then… then I'll take you to your car, I promise, okay?"

At his offer, Victoria was severely conflicted.  On the one hand, she really didn't want to deal with trying to find a motel, with trying to sort out her things back into her truck, all the while trying to dodge, and failing, crying more tears, and feeling like dog shit to boot.  On the _other_ hand, however, she didn't like the thought of feeling trapped here.  Even though the room was beautiful, and beyond anything she'd ever stayed in, still, she didn't feel entirely comfortable doing so.

 

Sensing her hesitation, William offered, "Look, I promise I won't bother you.  And if you get hungry, you're more than welcome to dig through the kitchen.  You're more than welcome to use anything here in the house, anything at all, and I promise I won't try anything, please…"

"Alright then," she accepted, albeit hesitantly.  "I'll stay the night.  But first thing in the morning, I want to get back to my truck, okay?"

"I promise.  Just… if you need anything, I want you to know, all you have to do is just ask me…"

"Well, Thank You for that."

 ~*~

Once alone, Victoria collapsed into tears.  Dropping the things she'd had in her hands to lay where they fell, not caring even a shit if any of it was to be damaged by it.  The only damage she _did_ give a shit about was that of her heart, of William's heart.

Angry, pain filled sobs wracked her body, wishing for all the world that somehow, some way this was all just a really, really bad dream and that she would awaken any moment and everything would be alright, that she would find herself in William's bed, safe and snug against him.

But it wasn't.  And she wasn't.  And he wasn't.  There was only the agony of a hollowed out place in her chest where her heart should have been.  Instead, it had been ripped out by her own hand, by her own decision that it needed to be done, a violent act done by her in order to prevent an even greater one; that if she stayed, if she let her heart keep beating in her chest, it would eventually be removed by yet another betrayal, removed by the hand of the one she'd begun to believe was the one she could trust more than anyone else ever.

And so she sobbed, collapsed upon the beautiful dark oak floor of a beautiful room, in an even more beautiful home; a home that should have been hers.  A home that was supposed to be hers.  But a cage is a cage, no matter how gilded.  And even though it could have been a place where she could be safe, a place where she could repair her damaged life and mind and soul, still, it was a cage, and she would never be caged again.

 

After a time she decided she should probably just get up, even if it were only to prove to herself she still had autonomous control of her body.  Walking over to the French doors –   _'Fuck! I love French doors!'_ she whined to herself –  intending to open them up to see what lay outside them, thinking that maybe a smoke might help to clear her head a bit.  There was the beginnings of a headache coming on, and she desperately needed something to distract herself from the pain.  

Finding her purse under her uniform bags, Victoria dug through it, trying and failing to find the case.  "Fuck!" she swore out loud.  She knew the damned thing was there; she'd made certain to before she left for her date with William.  At that memory, more unwelcome tears filled her eyes, more sobs threatening to overwhelm her once more.  "Please!" she begged her purse, as though pleading with it would convince it to give her what she wanted.  "Please just let me find that damned case…"

Finally the case decided to put off fucking with her, and Victoria gave it and her purse both a scowl at their antics.  Taking a cigarette out, she got back up and headed out said lovely French doors, only to find an even more beautiful backyard.  It was undoubtedly one of the most gorgeous yards she'd seen in San Diego.  It wasn't really all that huge – maybe an eighth of an acre tops she guessed – but the way it'd been landscaped left her awed, and yet again so incredibly sad, that this could have been hers.  

There were trees everywhere it seemed, and not the scrawny kind that tended to pass for trees in Southern California.  Nope, they were actual Oak trees, lined up in such a way as to form a border around the yard, with some conifers and pines interspersed between.  Rose bushes and Daffodils thrived in their own little spaces, joined by Marigolds, Lavender, and Lilacs.  She found she wanted to just go roaming through all of it, to be able to let the bounty of the trees and plants and grass work their healing magic upon her.

 

But she couldn't, absolutely wouldn't allow herself the luxury of it.  She wasn't going to be living here after all, so she couldn't let herself become attached to any of it any more than she could possibly help.  And again she swore at how thoroughly and completely unfair it was, all of it; of how William continued, even without knowing it, even without trying, to offer her exactly what she needed in order to heal.  That she could not only exist here; oh no, she could _thrive_ here, thrive with William, free herself of all the nightmares, cast off every single damned chain that had kept her broken and afraid and restrained.  Of how life could finally be really realized by her to actually finally be the one she'd always dreamt of.

The utter bitterness of just how unfair it now was, that now this too was to be ripped from her, just as her heart had, welled up in her, leaving a sour taste in her mouth to match the sour feeling in said heart.  "Oh well," she mused to herself, "Life's a bitch, and then you die, right?", laughing a little sarcastic laugh at her dark observation of what was now her equally dark future.

Well, it was over and done now she knew, snuffing out the butt of her cigarette, then turning to retreat back through those beautiful French doors, back into that gorgeous gilded room.  Suddenly finding herself possessed by Hypnos, Victoria rubbed her eyes, and proceeded to pull down the bed clothes with a view to hopefully then collapse into a deep state of unconsciousness.  Not bothering with changing into PJs 'cause she figured 'what's the use?', electing to just sleep in her jeans and t-shirt.  As a last thought, she went out again to dig her phone out of her recalcitrant purse, so as she could set the alarm for the next morning.  And with that done, once again, she snuggled in, praying for sleep to swiftly take her.

           

 

Chapter Sixteen

 

 

William was stunned at the turn of events that had just happened.  For the life of him, he could not at all have foreseen that that was how his lovely, beautiful Victoria would react.  No, not even in his most wildest of nightmares.  For in all his imaginings of how things were supposed to go, of how they should have gone, that something like what _had_ happened had never even entered the equation.  And with the actual turn of events, so too was _his_ heart turned into ash.

Stood in his room – "what should have been _our_ room," he mused sadly – William played in his head, over and over again, everything that had just happened.  Turning it all, this way and that in frustrated effort to attempt to make even the slightest of sense of what could only be generously described as the failure of the century, he examined, then re-examined every single word, every gesture that both he and Victoria had made since arriving home.  "Our home…" he winced again at the wound that those two words poked at.  "What a fucking mess I've made of this," he went on, shaking his head in incredible disbelief. The whole situation was fucked up beyond any sane reckoning, and at the moment, he hadn't any real plan nor thought as to how he could even begin to un-fuck it.

Having paced the wooden floor for what seemed like a small eternity, he sat himself on the edge of his bed –  "Gods… _our_ bed," he bemoaned, rewarding himself with another surge of pain at the thought of another wonderful thing lost – feeling more laid low and lost than he could remember feeling in at least a decade.  There was a crack now in the façade he'd managed to build up over that span of years, one that had enabled him to get through the days, leaving him able to pretend that everything was alright, that he was healed of all of the mess that his ex, Carol, had left of him.  Oh yes, the days were fine enough.  The nights, however, bore a completely different story for him.

No, the nights had been unbearable, almost, at least, at first, made endurable by a mountain of Valium, washed down by a river of brandy, or the occasional whisky.  He'd been left a hot mess by all of it, and it had taken the better part of two years to pull himself together and out of it, and once out, he'd sworn an oath to himself he'd never let himself get that low ever again.

 

And now, here he was again, on the threshold of completely losing his grip on his already shaky emotions.  He knew Victoria had had the right of it, of telling him that that was that, that it was, that 'they' were, over.  Knowing that didn't do a damned thing to assuage the agony of the wound that was left from when Victoria tore his heart out.  Just her name on his lips, and tears flowed yet again, unheeded, kept company by the sobs that began to wrack his frozen body.

It was only when the shadow of the approaching night crossed the threshold of the French doors in his room did he finally decide he should at least make the attempt to move.  His stomach growling in effort to remind him he'd not eaten since that morning, William began to make his way to the kitchen, to see if anything could be found there that he thought he might be able to keep down.  It was a sketchy bet at best as his nerves had been wreaking havoc with him since he and Victoria arrived to the house; still, he knew he needed to at least try to eat something.

He stepped out into the hallway, mindful to be as quiet as possible, as he figured Victoria must be asleep now. He quickly checked his watch, reading 10:35pm. He stopped for just a moment to stand just outside the door to her bedroom –  "No," he reminded himself, "not her bedroom, at least, not anymore" – just for a moment, hopeful that maybe she might still be up, that maybe he could knock on the door, that maybe she'd answer, let him in; that maybe they could talk.  That maybe, somehow, they could set things right again, back to the way they should be.

 _'Maybe, maybe, maybe. Wishful thinking, my lad,'_ he chided himself inwardly. _'Maybe isn't enough, not by a longshot. There really isn't anything for it now, at least not until the morning. Then, maybe, she'll have miraculously had a 180 degree change of heart, and then, maybe, all will be set to right again. Maybe…'_

 

William stood at the door to the bedroom that Victoria was currently occupying.  Leaning in carefully so as not to make any noise or disturb her should she be asleep, he put his ear against it, just to check to see that she was okay.  He listened closely, and what he heard made his heart break, for it was the unmistakable sound of his Victoria crying out, "Nooooooo…!", then the most pitiable sobbing he'd ever heard in all of his life.

William was torn between wishing to keep his promise to her that he would leave her be, that he wouldn't make any attempt to sway her to stay, and the overwhelming need to comfort her in the aftermath of what very much sounded like a nightmare.  He steeled himself, having made the decision to risk invading her privacy, as well as her trust.  But there just simply was no way in Hell he could stand there and do nothing, to let his precious Victoria suffer alone.  Sounding a tentative, "Victoria..?", and when no answer was given, slowly and carefully, he opened the door…

 ~*~

The light in the room was low, it's only source the moonlight falling through the sheer material of the curtains that hanged across the French doors.  The effect lent the air of a dream, and had the situation been a more happy one, it would have inspired an appreciative feeling within him.  But this was not a happy occasion, nor even in the slightest resembling anything of the sort.  For there was his sweet, precious Victoria, sat in the middle of the bed, it's clothes a tangled mess as though some war had been waged upon it and them; she, also such a mix of tears, sobbing, fear, and abiding sadness, showed the remnants of another war, one that would not be so easily straightened as would the bed.

He couldn't help himself; flying to her, and once landed upon the bed, he scooped her up into his arms, holding her close, oh so close, whispering soft, tender words of comfort and of love, rocking her slowly, lending her as much warmth as he had within him to give.  She didn't yet move, nor even speak, nor make even the slightest indication of acceptance or denial of William's entering the room, of him holding her.  She did not push him away, nor did she open up her arms to him either.  However, as her body began to calm itself, her heart and her breathing evening out their respective paces, William decided that the risk he had taken to come in to her was well worth any wrath she might yet decide to punish him with.

After another moment or so of her not moving either way, William took in a deep breath, and began, softly, "There… there now… are you alright now?"

Victoria, taking an equally deep breath in, answered, softly, "Yes," a sniffle escaping her.

"I'm sorry, that I broke my promise to leave you alone.  But… when I heard you crying… well, I just couldn't not do anything.  I know… you may still hate me, but, I love you, and even if you still end up wanting to leave in the morning… well, that will never change, not ever…"

 

As he started with this simple declaration of his enduring love for her, Victoria again began to cry.  This time though, it wasn’t the same sort of wailing sobbing that one tends to let out upon awakening from a nightmare.  No, this was that of a heart breaking yet again, and then starting to pull the pieces back together; of the slow beginnings of healing.  And as her heart began to open back up to him, so too did her arms, to hold him close to her, in part fearing to allow herself the vulnerability of trusting her heart to him again, and in part fearing that if she didn't at least take that chance, she'd end up regretting it for the rest of her life.

"Oh gods… William…" she sobbed anew, "I don't hate you… I never did, not even for the smallest second," squeezing him to her tighter.  He let out a breath he hadn't been aware he'd been holding in, and laying his head on top of hers, held her to him more tightly as well.  He couldn't allow himself to believe just yet that she might be willing to forgive him, but he wanted to, so very, very desperate to believe that there was now even the smallest of possibilities that that could be true.

He had to know, one way or the other; he couldn't let himself fall any further into the hope that it was possible until he did.  And so, very carefully, he pulled himself just far away enough from her so that he might be able to look into her eyes.  For, if he could, he knew the answer to his hopeful question would lie in those beautiful, beautiful eyes.

Hesitating for only a second, Victoria slowly looked up at William, offering him unspoken confirmation of unspoken question.  "Oh William… my sweet, wonderful William.  I am so, so sorry I overreacted–"

           

"No," he interrupted her, "No, you didn't.  You had every right to react as you did.  It was completely my fault…" She tried to stop him, tried to absolve him of his crime, but he made plain to her with a look that said he wouldn't have it; that he knew what she was trying to do, that she was giving in to an old habit of capitulating in order to get along.  "Now listen to me, my Darling Girl, _I_ am the one that messed this up, not you.  I made an assumption based on what I thought was acceptable to you.  I took it for granted that you would let me take the lead in helping you, and I summarily decided _for_ you, instead of _asking_ you.  I should have talked with you about it first, like we had been doing…

"But I didn't.  I 'handled' you.  I completely threw out everything you ever told me about you; all of your experiences with people trying to control you, to make decisions for you, and of how it was the biggest sore point for you.

"I was wrong.  And I know I can't go back and erase it.  And I have absolutely no right whatsoever to hope, that there might be any way you can see clear to forgiving me, to stay, and not leave me, to not give up on me.

"But, right now, I have absolutely no shame at all left, so I'm going to ask.  If I have to, I'll get down on my knees and beg you to, if that's what it will take.  I love you Victoria, and I don't want to lose you, please…"

 

By the time William was finished bearing his heart and soul to her, Victoria was crying all over again.  She couldn't take her eyes off him, he was just so damned beautiful in his vulnerability.  That he could do that, that he was willing to do that meant more to her than she could say.  No man, not one single one that she'd ever known, had ever been willing to do that.  To be willing to abase himself, his pride, all for the sake of her and of her love.  It moved her beyond words, beyond all feeling and emotion.  "Oh gods William…" she breathed into him, "I love you too, so, so much."

William sucked in air as though for the first time breathing, emotion so strong in him it caught in his throat.  "Does that mean you forgive me?"

Victoria, smiling a sleep smile at him answered, "Oh yes, my Darling Man… yes, it does…"

 

 

Chapter Seventeen

 

 

Grabbing Victoria up into him again, relief flooded through William like the warm, wet kiss he was now sharing with her.  They breathed each other in as though they'd never stopped, had never been apart but for the briefest or most necessary of moments.  Holding to each other as if afraid the other might not be really real, might somehow be but only a dream, each murmured to the other words of love, and of comfort, and of warmth between endless kisses and soft caresses.  Neither found any desire yet to move from the warm safety of the nest formed of duvet, sheets, and pillows.  And so it was they decided instead to lay back, nestled still in each other's embrace.

Not really wanting to, wishing only to be able to remain forever in the soft, warm bed with his equally soft, warm Victoria, it was with great reluctance that William broke the peaceful silence.  "So," he broached tentatively, "how are you feeling my Love?"

"Mmmmm…", she stretched, shifting slightly within his arms.  "SO way much better now."

"Ahhh… good Baby, I'm very glad to hear it."

Moving slightly to readjust his hold on her, a contented sigh leaving him, William's stomach began to growl at him, having decided that it'd been quite long enough to wait, that as it had been very patient with him up to now, it let him know that that patience was about to come to an end, and that if he didn't fill it soon, it was going to let him know about it in a very firm way.  At this display of William's stomach making it's insistent wish known, Victoria giggled.  "Hmmm… sounds like you need to feed yourself there, Handsome…"

Looking at her, he nodded, adding, "Yeah, I know I do.  I just haven't been able to yet, is all…", trailing off, not wanting to accidentally make her feel guilty for his lack of appetite.

"Awww… Baby…" borrowing his pet name for her.  "We need to feed you..!"

 

William smiled at her using her pet name on him.  Another growl came from his stomach, this one being a bit more insistent.  And when Victoria's stomach chimed in, he couldn't suppress the laugh that bubbled up in him.

 "Haw, you! Sounds like I'm not the _only_ one that needs feeding, Missy!"

"Well then, Mister Cheeky McCheeky, maybe we should _do_ something about it, instead of just _talking_ about it, ya think?"

"Oh Hoh! Is _that_ how it's gonna be now, eh?", sliding off the bed in one very swift move, bringing Victoria with him.  The next thing she knew she was being lifted up and over his shoulder, one hand holding over her legs and the other spanking her bottom soundly. An "Eeek!" squeeked out of her, followed by several colorful metaphors that threatened dire consequences if he were to even think to dare to repeat his attempt at corporal punishment.  Victoria's complaint was answered with yet another sound swat, causing her to giggle like a very naughty school girl, one that could swear along with the best of sailors.

Finally arriving, and rather unceremoniously, to the kitchen, it was only then that William deigned to set Victoria down, and even then so, it was rather reluctantly done.  For despite all her yowls and dire threats she hurled at him, the way she giggled and laughed informed him that said threats had very little teeth to them. Depositing her to stand on the floor, he proceeded to kiss her on top of the head as though she were a very small child being patronized by it's parent, which of course earned him an "Oi!" and a swat for good measure.

 

Playfully ducking her, William brought up his arms as he tried, and failed, to escape her attack, stumbling back a quick foot or two, a playfully smug look on his face, as though he wanted her to believe she'd made a dent, all the while looking at her as though she was just too cute for the effort. Victoria could easily see through his reaction, knowing full well that the smug act was only that:  an act. This was her playful William, and she loved that they had this banter.  She loved that they knew each other so well, felt so comfortable with each other, that they could play like this.  That there was a native understanding between them that this was just play.  She'd never had that before.  But she did now, and was again so very grateful that they'd been able to find their way through their earlier turmoil.

William was still so engrossed by their play fighting that it took him a second to realize Victoria had stopped, so occupied by her thoughts was she about this realization; of everything that had happened, and not just within the past hours here at their house - ' _Our_ house!' she rejoiced - but of all of the past few months since they'd met.  Yes, there had been some significant bumps in the road.  But she realized that that had a lot to do with the fact that they both had had some messed up stuff that they had each been through.  _'Okay,'_ so she thought, _'William's may have been from a really long time ago, but that doesn't mean the scars aren't still there, nor does it either mean that they won't flare up from time to time…'_

William patiently stood there, watching his Victoria - ' _my_ Victoria!' he rejoiced - travel through her thoughts. He had a bit of an idea of what some of them might be about, wanted to ask her about it all.  He found that he was more than happy to give her some time to silently investigate them, that he'd been given a reprieve by whatever gods seemed to favor them, that he could now afford again to do that.  He found that, whatever her thoughts were, he would be most happy, most happy indeed, to be allowed the honor and privilege sharing them with her, and of he doing so with her of his.  He then swore a silent oath to those same gods that he would never, ever be so stupid or unthinking as to ever risk losing that privilege, or her, ever, ever again…

~*~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so closes the First Chapter of William and Victoria's Love Story. I'm not certain of it yet, however, I have long considered writing a sequel. I just haven't felt all that inspired of late.
> 
> However, I am preparing for an extended holiday to Palm Springs here at the end of July (2018), and will be visiting many places that are William Powell-centric, so, who knows? Perhaps his ghost shall prove a faithful Muse to my Heart and Imagination...
> 
> Until then, Thank You so much for reading!


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